BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:45 P.M.) – Although not the most fantastic or headline-grabbing operation currently being undertaken by Syrian pro-government forces in comparison to their battles against ISIS in Deir Ezzor province, the northeast Hama offensive – being carried out with only a fraction of the Syrian Arab Army’s vanguard strength – is nonetheless offering worthy insight into the true strength northwest Syria’s most powerful jihadist militia – Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham.
Although not the main opponent of pro-government forces since the start of 2017, fears that the Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group may have used such a lengthy breathing space to recover from its devastating defeat in Aleppo city have proven to be unfounded.
The inherent weakness of Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham can be seen in the fact that the jihadist paramilitary still (after many years) has to rely on fire support – mostly in the form of heavy artillery and anti-tank guided missile systems – from other rebel militias fighting under the Free Syrian Army banner.
To this end, well-trained shock troops and car bomb attacks (the scale of which are nowhere near what the Islamic State terrorist group is able to muster) are simply no longer enough for Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham to turn back or chase away Syrian pro-government forces.