On Saturday morning, the Syrian Arab Army’s 2nd Division – in coordination with Hezbollah, Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi paramilitary), and the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Aleppo – continued their military operations in the northern countryside of the Kuweires Military Airport after a brief hiatus to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) along the strategic Aleppo-Raqqa Highway.

With the recent arrival of several Iraqi and Iranian reinforcements from the Latakia Governorate, the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies chose to launch their assault from the recently captured village of ‘Arbeed on the ICARDA Farms that are located just north of the Kuweires Military Airport.

The Syrian Armed Forces and their allies began their powerful assault on the ICARDA Farms around 11 A.M. (Damascus Time), striking ISIS’ defensive positions at the southern perimeter of this former agricultural school; this resulted in a series of fierce firefights between the Syrian Armed Forces/Hezbollah and ISIS.

According to a field journalist on the ground with the SAA’s 2nd Division in east Aleppo, the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies seized the ICARDA Farms, killing over 20 enemy combatants from ISIS and destroying 4 armored vehicles that were mounted with 23mm anti-aircraft machine guns.

The capture of the ICARDA Farms has allowed for the Syrian Armed Forces and their allies to build a buffer-zone around the Kuweires Military Airport’s northern perimeter, leaving the southern perimeter of the base as the only contested flank.