Syrian Army advances north towards Aleppo City while Hezbollah pushes south to the Idlib Governorate

The Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division has recently shifted their attention to the provincial capital of the Aleppo Governorate after spending the last two months fighting alongside Hezbollah and Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi paramilitary) to cutoff the imperative Islamist rebel supply route from the Idlib Governorate.

Following the capture of Khan Touman, Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces split apart, with the former advancing south of the strategic Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5 Highway) while the latter pushed north towards the large towns of Al-Rashideen and Khan Al-‘Assal that border the southern sector of the provincial capital.

Khan Al-‘Assal and Al-Rashiddeen are situated just north of the recently captured town of Khan Touman and just south of the Al-‘Amariyah District of the provincial capital.

Two years ago, the Islamist rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) executed several Syrian Arab Army soldiers inside of Khan Al-‘Assal, marking one of the largest mass executions of the war.