BREAKING (1915 GMT): Rebels have taken Mastoumeh village and hill as they attempt to capture the regime’s Mastoumeh camp, the last military position south of Idlib city.

The opposition have surrounded and attacked Mastoumeh since the fall of Idlib city to rebels on March 28.

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In a televised speech on Saturday nightm Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed victories his forces in their campaign in the Qalamoun region in southwest Syria.

“A strong defeat was dealt to the armed militants and they left the areas of battlefield,” Nasrallah said. “Around 300km [about 110 square miles] was retrieved from the control of the militants, most of it is in Syrian territory.”

Hezbollah’s fighters have taken a series of hilltops in the mountainous area near the Lebanese border, including the highest point, Tallit Moussa. They are trying to cut off rebels and the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra inside Syria from supplies and movement of personnel from Lebanon.

However, even as Nasrallah spoke, reports were circulating that rebels had counter-attacked, including on Tallit Moussa. Among the slain Hezbollah and Syrian fighters was one of Nasrallah’s nephews.

Rebel sources have said since the start of the Hezbollah offensive in early May that their strategy was to pursue hit-and-run attacks as the Hezbollah and Syrian forces advanced.

While maintaining that “there were many battles that led to the defeat of the armed militants,” Nasrallah acknowledged, “We are still at the heart of the battle.”

The Hezbollah leader said 13 of his fighters and seven Syrian soldiers have been killed. Rebels says the toll is far higher, with one site publishing the names of 107 casualties.

Nasrallah cautioned that rebels and Jabhat al-Nusra were still present in Lebanon, including near the border town of Arsal, “As long as they are on Arsal’s outskirts and the remaining part of Qalamoun, then I can’t talk about complete security.”

Some analysts put a further mark over Nasrallah’s claims by questioning whether the value of the offensive is more for badly-needed PR than for strategic value.

“The Iranians and Hezbollah are now in a declining phase across the region,” Sami Nader, a professor in politics at the University of Saint Joseph in Lebanon, said. “So they are in desperate need for an achievement to counterbalance their losses; they need to sell it to their constituents in order to justify the the continuing battle and involvement in Syria.”

“Their community is under extensive pressure, and [Hezbollah] needs to sell them something,” he added.

Since the start of the year, rebels have advanced across northwest and southern Syria, including the capture of the provincial capital of Idlib, the city of Jisr al-Shughour, and the ancient town of Busra al-Sham in the past six weeks.

Meanwhile, Syrian offensives — with the involvement of Hezbollah fighters and commanders — have been checked or suffered heavy defeats, such as the losses north of Aleppo in February.

“Given how the dynamics were in their favour last year, the tide has turned and it is for their detriment,” said Nader. “So Qalamoun is more of a media campaign than a real battle on the ground.”

On Friday, Hezbollah took a 12-car convoy of journalists, including correspondents from the New York Times and Reuters, across the Lebanese border into Qalamoun.

The New York Times reporter, Anne Barnard, writes this morning of the carefully-staged briefing but notes, “The significance and durability of the advances, in an unpopulated area where insurgents use hit-and-run tactics, are unclear.”


Sources: Rebels Launch Offensive To Take Regime’s Last Military Camp South of Idlib

Sources have confirmed to EA that rebels have begun an offensive to take the regime’s Mastoumeh military camp, its last position south of Idlib city.

Thousands of rebels attacked from all sides of the camp, destroying and capturing several vehicles while cutting off the movement of Syrian troops.

The heavily-fortified position at Mastoumeh has been isolated following the rebel capture of Idlib city in late March and the subsequent takeover of the regime’s Qarmeed (Brick Factory) camp.


Video: Rebels Battle Islamic State in Northeast Aleppo Province

Footage of a rebel offensive against Islamic State forces in northeast Aleppo Province (see map):

Rebels have been pushing the Islamic State back in the province in recent weeks, near the front-line close to opposition-held Mare’.


Homs Governor: Islamic State Pushed Out of Palmyra

The Governor of Homs Province, Talal al-Barazi, has told State media that the Islamic State has been pushed out of the ancient city of Palmyra in central.

Al-Barazi claimed the Syrian army had also retaken the Radio Tower and the hills that overlook Palmyra, as well as the archeological city and the western entrance.

The Islamic State began an offensive on Wednesday and moved into parts of northern and eastern Palmyra, as well as seizing fuel depots to the east and holding villages to the west. Capturing the desert town of Sukhna, east of Palmyra, they cut the road to Deir ez-Zor Province in eastern Syria.

Al-Barazi assured that the road linking Homs and Palmyra is “fully secure”.


Account of Raid by US Forces That Killed Islamic State Commander Near Deir ez-Zor

The Local Coordinating Committees post an account of the raid by US special forces on Saturday that killed Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic State commander who handled finances and oil sales in eastern Syria, and other fighters. Abu Sayyaf’s wife was captured during the assault:

At 1 a.m. the international coalition’s air combats started hovering over the oil field and Deir ez-Zor suburbs iwithout shelling. Around 3 a.m. an American chopper lowered US paratroopers in the residential city where clashes started at once with ISIS fighters which has led to the killing of the so-called Abo Sayyaf, a Tunisian ISIS leader. Also, there was an Iraqi interpreter accompanying the U.S. veterans and specifically asking about Abo Sayyaf’s wife who was detained later.

Meanwhile, two choppers were securing the area and opening machine-gun fire in the whole area. The clashes were ongoing between ISIS fighters and the coalition’s veterans for almost 20 minutes, resulting in 8 ISIS fatalities who were of different nationalities, including Abo Osama al-Jazrawi (Saudi) and the Syrian Saleh al-Sawmaei….

Remarkably, there were police dogs along with the paratroopers during the lowering. The wives of al-Sawmaei and al-Jazrawi…were severely injured due to dog bites. ISIS corpses were buried in the residential city and in Tayyana and Hawayej towns in Deir ez-Zor suburbs.

After the operation, the residents were urged to donate blood over mosques’ microphones. Once the land operation was over, three of the coalition’s [warplanes] shelled the northern oil field and the air raid was resumed later on.

It is also worth mentioning that the coalition’s air combats did not shell that location in the past 10 days and only were hovering and thoroughly surveilling the area.


Almost 100 Killed on Saturday Across Syria, Amid Regime Bombing of Idlib Province

The Local Coordinating Committees report that 96 people, including 18 children and 12 women, were killed across Syria on Saturday.

Of the deaths, 56 were in Idlib Province as the regime continued its airstrikes following rebel advances.

Activists say most of the deaths were in Saraqeb, where a market was hit, and in Kafar Oweid. Graphic footage was posted on Saturday from both towns.

See Syria Daily, May 16: Video — Regime Airstrike Reportedly Kills 18 in Saraqeb in Idlib Province