Syrian War Report – February 22, 2017: Syrian Army Aims ISIS Stronghold Of Deir Hafer

On February 21, the Syrian army’s Tiger Forces, supported by Russian warplanes, liberated the key town of Rasm Harmel al-Imam and the village of Tabaret Madi from ISIS terrorists in the province of Aleppo. Government troops continued putting pressure on ISIS in the town of Humaymah Al-Kabira near Deir Hafer. The Tiger Fores seized the nearby Humaymah Al-Kabira Hill earlier this month, which allowed them to set a foothold for the advance in the area.

The Tiger Forces and its allies are steadily isolating the ISIS stronghold of Deir Hafer which is a mid-term goal of the government operations in the province.

Meanwhile, pro-Turkish militants and the Turkish army continued their attempts to seize the town of al-Bab from ISIS. Turkey-led forces have captured of some points in western al-Bab, but the situation is far away from the breakthrough of the ISIS defenses.

On February 20, the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, affilated with the ISIS terrorist group, launched an offensive against its “moderate counterparts” from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (a coalition of militant groups led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham [formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda]) and Ahrar al-Sham.

As a result of initial attacks, the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army seized Tel Jamou, Tasil, Sahm al-Joulan, Jalin and Adwan. Over 20 Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham members were killed in the clashes. The Khalid ibn al-Walid Army also captured a BMP vehicle, a T-55 battle tanks, 2 pickups and some small arms. On February 21, Ahrar al-Sham announced that the group recaptured Jablin and Tell ‘Ashtara from the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army. On February 22, fighting continued in the area.

Last night, the Israeli Air Force bombed Syrian army positions in the Qalamoun Mountains in the Damascus countryside. There were no confirmed reports about casualties among the army personnel.