Syrian opposition on defense in Aleppo

Mohammed al-Khatieb reports from Aleppo that despite advances in Hama governorate, Syrian “opposition forces are falling behind in the countryside south of Aleppo as regime forces advance, backed on the ground by Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran. This is why the opposition was forced to withdraw troops from the battle for Hama and send them to defend Aleppo.”

On Nov. 10, the Syrian military, which is also supported by Russian air power, regained control of Kuweires air base, and three days later took the towns of al-Hadir and al-Eis in Aleppo’s southern countryside. Al-Eis hill “overlooks parts of the Aleppo-Damascus international road and is within firing distance of large areas of Aleppo’s southern countryside,” Khatieb writes.

The Kuweires air base, Jean Aziz reports, “is one of the largest airports in Syria and includes an air academy. It is 25 miles east of Aleppo and is surrounded by a natural water canal on three sides. Controlling Kuweires is an important step toward controlling three villages to the east: Manbij, al-Bab and Jarabulus, [Wassim] Bazzi said. …Those towns are important to IS [Islamic State] because they are along the Turkish border,” and have been a hub for terrorist passage to Raqqa.