Syrian Army, terrorists trade blows in Homs province: Field Report

Heavy clashes erupted between the Syrian Army and the Islamic State militants in the grain silos area east of the ancient city of Palmyra as the government forces attempt to advance towards the oily Arak town under the cover of the Russian Air Force.

News were reported of the presence of a 1,000 strong force from the Iraqi paramilitary force Imam Ali Brigade replaced the Cheetah Forces (a subunit of the Tiger Forces) and the Military Security Shield. Their job will be confined to defending the historic city while the Syrian Army attempts to advance on Arak.

Meanwhile, ISIS repelled a Syrian Army attack on the village of Huwaysis in the Sha’er region north of Palmyra.

In Homs’s northern countryside, the Syrian Army foiled a Jabhat Al-Nusra infiltration attempt against some advanced SAA security checkpoints in the vicinity of Jaboureen town. The active SAA forces in the region are mainly the 11th Mechanized Division’s 60th and 47th brigades. Whilst all this was ongoing, the RuAF and the Syrian Air Force launched joint air strikes against the militants’ positions in the islamist strongholds of Talbiseh and Rastan.

Little change is expected in the countrysides of Syria’s biggest province as the Syrian Army seems mostly focused on Aleppo and Latakia where massive, fateful battles are ongoing that would change the landscape of the Syrian conflict for the rest of the civil war.