After the recent success in the Idlib Governorate, the Al-Nusra Front (Jabhat Al-Nusra) has been unable to further their progress inside this province in northern Syria due in large part to their feud with their former allies in the Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF) and the Islamic Front (Jabhat Al-Islamiyya) that they have combatted along with the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the National Defense Forces (NDF).

Capitalizing on the rebel’s disorientation and internal feuds, the SAA’s 11th Tank Division conducted an ambush on a large contingent from the Al-Nusra Front at Tal Salmo in northwest Idlib. According to a military source, over 20 militants from the Al-Nusra Front were killed at Tal Salmo, including 2 brothers that were identified as Sadaam and Qusay Kayaari.

At the village of Halouz, the 11th Tank Division and NDF confronted a number of militants from Liwaa Suqour Al-Sham (Falcons of the Levant Brigades), killing scores of these fighters and confiscating their weapons. The 11th Tank Division also carried out an assault on Liwaa Suqour Al-Sham positions at the nearby Cork Factory (Ma’amel Al-Faleen) that resulted in the withdrawal of the latter from this area following intense firefights.

Other areas that experienced an increase in violence were the following: ‘Ayn Al-Baarada, Binnish, ‘Ayn Maarteen, Al-Lahouti and Abu Al-Dhuhour Airbase – a car bomb was reportedly detonated at Kafr ‘Aweed in the Al-Zaweeya Mountains (Jabal Al-Zaweeya), wounding at least 8 civilians as a result.