DAMASCUS, SYRIA (11:45 AM) – Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Al-Qaeda affiliate formerly known as Al-Nusra has deployed some of its most elite and senior forces still available to them in Idlib to the defence of the key Abu ad Duhur airbase in the southeast of the province.
According to sources reported by Fars News, the terrorist organisation’s elite forces clashed heavily with Syrian army troops near Abu ad Duhur on Wednesday, resulting in at least nine dead Al-Qaeda fighters.
In response, the Syrian Arab Army has opened fire on HTS positions with artillery and missile launchings, mainly targeted at the military airport itself. The clashes come after the Syrian armed forces liberated the towns al-Adeliyeh, Tal al-Aowja, Rasm al-Ward and Marijab Jamlan all on early Wednesday, in a lighting offensive that saw over 200 towns and villages being liberated by the Syrian Arab Army in the past two weeks alone.