HTS, SNA advance toward Saraqib, threatening M4 Highway Control
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, once known as al-Nusra Front), and Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), are advancing toward the city of Saraqib in the eastern countryside of Idlib, drawing closer to severing the strategic Aleppo-Damascus (M4) Highway, a military source from the opposition said on Thursday.
The source told North Press that early on Thursday, the SNA factions launched renewed attacks on Syrian government forces and their allied Iranian militias in the western countryside of Aleppo.
They captured the villages of Arnaz and Sheikh Ali, parts of the Second Engineers District, and the key town of Urum al-Kubrah after intense battles, the source added.
In the east of Idlib, the factions seized the towns of Dadikh and Kafr Battikh. Their gains bring them within striking distance of cutting the M4 Highway, a critical route for government logistics.
The clashes have reportedly left 40 government soldiers dead and seven captured, including two Iranian militants, according to the source.
Additionally, the SNA factions have seized seven tanks, several armored vehicles, and multiple ammunition depots in Idlib and Aleppo.
Since Wednesday, the HTS and the SNA factions have intensified their offensives in the western countryside of Aleppo, capturing more than 20 villages and towns, including the Regiment 46 base, one of the largest military installations in the area.