ISIL Offensive in Al-Hasakah Ends Miserably: 1,200 Militants Trapped Inside the City

Three weeks after launching their large-scale offensive in the provincial capital of the Al-Hasakah Governorate, ISIL has found itself encircled by the Syrian Armed Forces at the eastern (Al-Nishwa) and northern flanks; meanwhile, the predominately Kurdish “People’s Protection Units” control the the western and southern flanks.

With no outlet to retreat, the terrorist group has an estimated 1,200 combatants stuck inside the provincial capital with scarce provisions to muster up a counter-assault, leaving them at the mercy of the Syrian Armed Forces and the YPG fighters assaulting their positions from all sides.

To make matters worse for the ISIL militants, the Syrian Armed Forces and the YPG are involved in a cold war style battle to take control of as much territory as they can before the other arrives; this has worked out well for the YPG, as they have taken control of large swathes of territory with little resistance from the terrorist group.

On Friday morning, the Syrian Armed Forces made significant progress inside the provincial capital, capturing the Faculty of Economics building, the Industrial Institute, and a number of building blocks inside the west district of the Al-Nishwa Quarter.

In addition to their progress at the aforementioned sites, the Syrian Arab Army’s 154th Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division – in coordination with the National Defense Forces, Gozarto Protection Forces (Assyrian militia), and the Al-Ba’ath Battalion – have finally entered the Al-Shari’ah District in the southwestern corridor of Al-Hasakah City after fierce clashes with ISIL on Wednesday afternoon.

ISIL suffered a major setback on the eastern front of Al-Hasakah City, as the YPG imposed full control over the Red Villas, while also advancing to the Al-Zuhour Quarter’s east district.

South of Al-Hasakah City, the YPG has taken control of Rad Sharqiyah, Al-Watwatiyah, and a number of other little villages along the Al-Hasakah-Al-Shadadi Highway.