Three months ago, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) surprised the Syrian Armed Forces by taking control of the Ithriyah-Khanasser Highway that ultimately leads to the Aleppo Governorate’s southern countryside.

Following a two week long battle that required Hezbollah’s participation, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF) eliminated the lingering threat along the Ithriyah-Khanasser Highway; this prompted the Syrian government officials to reopen the roadway, despite the previous threat.

Now, three months later, the Syrian Arab Army’s elite 555th Brigade of the 18th Tank Division – in coordination with the National Defense Forces and Kataebat Al-Ba’ath (Al-Ba’ath Battalions) – launched a powerful assault on the strategic Ithriyah Oil Pumping Station  and the Ithriyah Electrical Station near the formerly contested town of Ithriyah in the Hama Governorate’s eastern countryside.

Not long after launching the assault, the Syrian Armed Forces announced that they had liberated the two aforementioned sites from the terrorists of ISIS, killing a confirmed 18 enemy combatants, while also destroying 4 armored vehicles belonging to the terrorist group.

According to a military source from the 555th Brigade, the Oil Pumping Station and the Electrical Station are both situated to the east of Ithriyah and only a few kilometers away from the nearby Al-Raqqa Governorate; if they ever attack Al-Raqqa, it will be from this flank.

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Leith Aboufadel
Editor-in-Chief Specializing in Near Eastern Affairs and Economics.

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