On March 31, terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) group repelled an attack of the Syrian Army in the area of the Jirah airbase, located in the east of Aleppo province. The military base was actually already semi-surrounded, but the attempt of Syrian troops to take the last village, located in the vicinity, turned out to be a failure.
On March 29, the village of Mahum, located 2.5 kilometers to the west of the airbase, was briefly taken by the Syrian Army. On the morning of March 31, groups of the Special Forces, backed up by artillery, tried to enter the village, but met with fierce resistance. Then, a bomb-laden vehicle was sent to positions of the government forces. According to a statement of the IS, 11 Syrian servicemen, including one officer, were killed in a powerful explosion.
Immediately after the explosion, terrorists launched an attack from Mahum village to the west. During the battle, they managed to knock out one tank and destroy a pickup truck, equipped with a 23-mm anti-aircraft machine gun. The IS counterattack was unexpectedly strong. Apparently, the group’s leadership dispatched additional forces to the Jirah airbase in order to prevent advances of the Syrian Army to Raqqa province.