Two days after announcing the start of their large-scale offensive in the Al-Sqaylabiyah countryside, the Islamist rebel factions that make-up the “Kafr Naboudeh Operations Room” (10 rebel groups from Hama and Idlib) hit a rough patch at this front in northern Hama as the Syrian Armed Forces recovered several points that were captured by Ajnad Al-Sham and their allies on Sunday.

According to a military source from Al-Sqaylabiyah, the National Defense Forces (NDF) from the aforementioned city – in coordination with the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) – forestalled the Islamist rebel advance and then followed this up with an assault of their own; this counter-assault resulted in the Syrian Armed Forces recapturing the strategic hilltop of Tal Al-Sakhr and the Grain Silos.

Following this successful counter-assault, the Syrian Armed Forces were able secure the imperative village of Al-Mughayr after the Islamist rebels imposed full control over this site the day before; this aforementioned village is located directly south of Kafr Naboudeh and just east of Tal Al-Sakhr.

With all three of these sites safely secured on Tuesday afternoon, the National Defense Forces and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party have successfully repelled the first wave of this Islamist rebel offensive in the Al-Sqaylabiyah countryside.

However, these setbacks will not stop the Kafr Naboudeh Operations Room from concocting another contingency to launch a new offensive in the Al-Sqaylabiyah countryside; in addition to this, they still control the sites captured after they took control of the strategic town of Morek.