Syrian Army, Hezbollah capture Kiffeen in northern Aleppo

Syrian Arab Army’s 154th Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division and Hezbollah are spending very little time enjoying their victories in northern Aleppo, as they set their sights on the Islamist rebel strongholds of Tal Rifa’at and Ahras near the Turkish border. On Sunday morning, the Syrian Arab Army’s 154th Brigade – alongside Hezbollah, the National Defense Forces (NDF), and several Iraqi paramilitary units – reached the outskirts of Kiffeen after advancing north from the recently captured village of Mayer in northern Aleppo.

Following a morning of violent firefights with the Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group), the Syrian Arab Army’s 154th Brigade and their allies finally overran the Islamist rebel defenses at Kiffeen, resulting in the complete withdrawal of enemy combatants from this village near the town of Kafr Naya.

According to a battlefield correspondent in northern Aleppo, the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies are now attacking Kafr Naya from two different flanks; if captured, they will have complete access to the rebel stronghold of Ahras. Despite claims that they mobilized a large force to drive back the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies, the Islamist rebels have done very little to halt the government’s advance in northern Aleppo.