Syrian Army Prepares for Phase 2 of Military Operations in Al-Hasakah City

ISIL conducted a powerful assault at the Al-Liliyah Quarter of Al-Hasakah City on Tuesday, targeting the Syrian Arab Army’s frontline defenses inside the west district.

A fierce firefight ensued between the Syrian Arab Army’s 154th Brigade of the 4th Mechanized Division and the armed combatants of ISIL, lasting almost four hours before the terrorist group withdrew from the district.

According to a military source in Al-Hasakah City, ISIL sustained heavy casualties during the firefight, losing almost 30 armed combatants in just three and a half hours of fighting.

Following this failed infiltration attempt, ISIL did not sit idly: the terrorist group launched another attack on the east district of Al-Ghuweiran, where they were met with fierce resistance from the Syrian Arab Army’s 104th Airborne Brigade of the Republican Guard.

Unable to penetrate through the Republican Guard’s frontline defenses, the terrorist group was forced to withdraw their forces in order to evade the swarming Hind Helicopters from the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF).

Earlier today, officers from the Syrian Arab Army’s Central Command conducted a meeting in the city of Al-Qamishli to discuss the completion of “Phase 1″ of the SAA’s military operations inside the provincial capital of Al-Hasakah.

Phase 1 consisted of forestalling ISIL’s progress in Al-Hasakah City; this was achieved over the weekend after the Syrian Armed Forces repelled a number of infiltration attempts by the armed combatants of ISIL.

Phase 2 will require the Syrian Armed Forces to recapture the west district of the Al-Nishwa Quarter, along with the remaining territory in the Al-Zuhour Quarter under ISIS’ control (i.e. Panorama Roundabout).

The final phase will require the Syrian Armed Forces to recapture the villages surrounding Al-Hasakah City in order to build another buffer-zone to prevent the encroaching combatants of ISIL from entering.