Backed by Turkish artillery, the National Liberation Front (NLF) and Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) began their attack on Monday by storming the western outskirts of Nayrab, a town that has been fought over for two weeks now.
According to the latest field report from the Idlib Governorate, the Turkish-backed militants and their jihadist allies were able to retake Nayrab after losing more than 150 combatants over the course of three attacks.
The purpose of capturing Nayrab for the militants is to position themselves for an offensive to reclaim the strategic city of Saraqib, which is located on two major highways in northeastern Idlib.
Since capturing Saraqib, the Syrian Arab Army has retaken several towns and villages between Aleppo and Idlib, which has paved the way for the reopening of the Aleppo-Damascus Highway (M-5) for the first time in eight years.
