Hezbollah, Syrian Army envelop Al-Zorba in southern Aleppo

The Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division and Hezbollah have been fixated on the strategic town of Al-Zorba these last few days, striking the Islamist rebels of Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group), Liwaa Suqour Al-Sham, and Harakat Nouriddeen Al-Zinki at both the northern and eastern flanks.

On Tuesday morning in the Aleppo Governorate’s southern countryside, the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division – in coordination with the National Defense Forcrs (NDF) of Aleppo City, Hezbollah, and Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi paramilitary) – continued their assault on Al-Zorba, killing several enemy combatants from Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra before they were able swing around the northern flank in order to advance towards the western flank.

The reason for this military movement conducted by the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies is to spread the enemy combatants too thin in order to expose the most vulnerable parts of their defensive frontlines; this is what they originally did at the imperative town of Al-Hadher last month.

By doing this, the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies appear to be encircling the enemy combatants; however, this is militaristic illusion forces the Islamist rebels to commit a large concentration of men to a certain flank, leaving the other flanks vulnerable to an attack by the pro-government forces.

Initially, several reports asserted that the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies had seized Al-Zorba; unfortunately, this news was prematurely reported, as all of Al-Masdar’s military sources denied these rumors.