IMAGE: Rebels on frontline in Quneitra Province in southwest Syria
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- Video: Kurds Celebrate Victory Over Islamic State in Tel Abyad on Turkish Border
- Suicide Bomb Kills 1, Wounds 3 in Attack on Kurdish Security Forces in Qamishli
After a series of rebel advances this spring throughout Syria, battlefronts have settled between the rebels and President Assad’s forces in at least four areas.
1. IDLIB-HAMA FRONT: In northwest Syria, the rebel operations room Jaish al-Fateh has tried twice this week to remove the regime from its last major positions in Idlib Province, after taking the provincial capital of Idlib, other cities and towns such as Jisr al-Shughour and Ariha, and military bases.
However, Syrian forces have maintained resistance east of Frikka, their last town along the M4 highway from Aleppo to Latakia on the Mediterranean coast.
Victory in Frikka would further open up the al-Ghab Plain — about 1/3 of which is already held by rebels — into Hama Province and offer the possibility of a move into Latakia Province.
2. ALEPPO FRONT: Under the new Fateh Haleb operations room, rebels have begun moves in the west of Aleppo, which may be the start of an attempt to take the regime-held areas of Syria’s largest city.
After initial gains in Layramoun, Khalidiya, and Rashidin, the rebels appear to have been checked. However, there are differing claims as to whether Assad’s troops have been able to retake buildings lost earlier this week.
Detailed map of areas of control in Syria, from “Karybdis“
3. DARAA-SUWEIDA FRONT: The frontline in southern Syria has settled near the border of Daraa and Suweida Provinces, after rebels claimed the Brigade 52 army base but halted operations to take the al-Thala airbase, one of the most important for the regime.
Resistance by Syrian forces at al-Thala is intertwined with the political issue of Syria’s Druze community. Many Druze fighters are at al-Thala, and the foreign officials of the operations room in Jordan reportedly ordered the rebels to pull back amid concerns about the reaction of the community — a religious group found mainly in Syria, Israel, and Lebanon — to opposition entry into Suweida province.
As fighters moved back to villages near al-Thala, the Southern Front rebel coalition said they were negotiating with Druze leaders, but nothing further has been heard in the past week.
4. QUNEITRA FRONT: The Druze issue has also arisen as a complication in the rebels’ offensive, declared last week, in Quneitra Province in southwest Syria near the demilitarized zone with Israel.
The Jaish al-Hermon operations room was created for the quest to remove Assad forces from the province, with initial gains of some villages and hilltops. However, the advance appears to have been stopped near the town of Hadar, with a large Druze population.
Rebels on the frontline in the Red Hills, northeast of Hadar (see map), on Saturday:
A Temporary Pause?
Pro-Assad activists are claiming the settling of the lines as a sign that the regime is recovering after the setbacks of the spring, not only against the rebels but also the Islamic State with its capture of the historic city of Palmyra. The Syrian military has also turned back an Islamic State attempt to take Hasakah city and Deir ez Zor airport in northeast Syria.
However, the regime’s forces continue to be on the defensive, with no immediate prospect of regaining the significant amounts of territory lost since March. The last major offensives by the Syrian military were in February, and these either suffered deadly defeats (north of Aleppo city) or were limited in their achievements (the line south of Damascus).
The salvation for President Assad may have come from the Islamic State. Although the militants have their own troubles, having lost area along the Turkish border such as the town of Tel Abyad to a Kurdish-rebel offensive, they launched attacks on the rebels in May in northern Aleppo Province.
Those assaults along a 25-km (16-mile) front have forced rebels to divert units. However, the rebel coalitions never had to move fighters from areas such as Idlib and last week showed that they could launch the attacks in Aleppo city, despite the Islamic State’s intervention.
Battlefronts in Syria do not settle for long. The question is: where will the break in the temporary lull occur?
Video: Kurds Celebrate Victory Over Islamic State in Tel Abyad on Turkish Border
A video celebrates last week’s Kurdish victory, with rebel allies over the Islamic State in Tel Abyad on the Turkish border. The footage features the return of some of the more than 20,000 residents who fled the area during the fighting:
The Kurdish-rebel offensive covered more than 90 km (56 miles) from west and east to join the Kurdish cantons of Kobane and Cezire, taking the border crossing near Tel Abyad.
See Syria Daily, June 16: Kurds and Rebels Defeat Islamic State in Tel Abyad Near Turkish Border
Suicide Bomb Kills 1, Wounds 3 in Attack on Kurdish Security Forces in Qamishli
A suicide bomber has killed one person and wounded three in an attack on Kurdish security forces in Qamishli in northeast Syria.
Hawar News says</strong> the attacker in the mainly-Kurdish town was a foreign fighter. He shot dead a guard and then entering the building and detonated his explosives.
