Hezbollah, Syrian Army cutoff the Aleppo-Damascus Highway

[Bleipriester]

The terrorist´s supply line from Idlib to Aleppo has been cut off.

"It took several weeks for the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah to seize the imperative town of Khan Touman that is located along the vast Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5 Highway); however, moments ago, the pro-government forces officially declared they are in full control the town after intense firefights with Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) and Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham.

Al-Masdar News was informed that Hezbollah led the charge this morning, which ultimately paved the way for the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division and Harakat Al-Nujaba to help push out the Islamist rebels of Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra to the Idlib Governorate’s northeastern border.


What does the capture of Khan Touman mean to the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies?

Well, perhaps the most important thing is that the Islamist rebels are now without a primary supply route from the provincial capital of the Idlib Governorate to the provincial capital of the Aleppo Governorate.

Without this primary supply route to their militants in southern Aleppo, the Islamist rebels will be forced to find an alternative route to the provincial capital in order to evade the Syrian Arab Army’s guard posts that will likely be constructed along this highway in the near future."

Hezbollah, Syrian Army cutoff the Aleppo-Damascus Highway after seizing Khan Touman in southern Aleppo

 

[Bleipriester]

Jaish al-Fateh used many TOWs. This resulted in some casualties.

"Yesterday, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), with the support of various Shia paramilitaries groups like Hezbollah, successfully captured the strategic town of Khan Touman and the village of Qarasi in southern Aleppo in a region which has witnessed defiant rebel resistance for years.

This afternoon, the Syrian Arab Army ensued on a blitzkrieg-like offensive and rapidly advanced west of Khan Touman, thereby capturing Kalidiyah village and several hundred meters along the M5-Highway. These areas have been rebel-held since the summer of 2012; thus, insurgents were unable to set up defensive positions in sufficient time to prevent the government offensive and were effectively completely overpowered. Strategically, this renders the M5-Highway, which crosses through Idlib governorate to Aleppo city, utterly useless for Islamist rebels loyal to the Jaish al-Fateh coalition.

Momentarily, the front line has evened out; however, government troops have made steady regional advances in the past two months largely due to Russian Airstrikes and elite Shi’a reinforcements pouring in from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran. Nevertheless, this Syrian Army offensive has come at a heavy cost as Jaish al-Fateh rebels have put the US-supplied TOW-missile to effective use against government vehicles in the area causing many to be destroyed.

http://www.almasdarnews.com/article/author/paul/
Paul Antonopoulos | Al-Masdar News

The SAA is currently attempting to relieve the pressure on Aleppo city while pushing towards the government-enclave and Shi’a towns of Fuah and Kafrhaya near Idlib city. Furthermore, this maneuver does seem to approach Nubl and al-Zahraa from the south. Despite a seemingly illogical offensive route, one cannot rule out the possibility of the Syrian Army launching an all-out attack from this direction towards the predominately Shi’a towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa."

Jaish al-Fateh in trouble as SAA cuts rebel supply line to Aleppo