On the same day that the Syrian Armed Forces liberated the Al-Safira Plains in east Aleppo, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) *Jund Al-Aqsa* cut the government’s only supply route along the Ithriyah-Khanasser Road, which ultimately leads to the Aleppo Governorate.

According to an Al-Masdar correspondent in Damascus, ISIS Jund Al-Aqsa captured Rasm Al-Nafal after launching a surprise assault on the National Defense Forces’ (NDF) positions inside this small village in the Aleppo Governorate’s southeastern countryside.

Located directly southwest of Jabboul Lake, Rasm Al-Nafal is an uninhabited village that was filled with soldiers from the National Defense Forces; however, the surprise attack by ISIS Jund Al-Aqsa forced the government forces to make an abrupt withdrawal before being overrun by the terrorist group on Sunday evening.

The likelihood that ISIS Jund Al-Aqsa will maintain control over this village for a long duration is not realistic; this is the Syrian government’s only supply route to Aleppo and an integral roadway that gives the latter access to several regions in northern Syria.

In the coming hours, the Syrian Armed Forces are expected to launch a counter-assault in order to recapture Rasm Al-Nafal from ISIS Jund Al-Aqsa.

However, the Syrian Armed Forces will need to strengthen their buffer-zone around the Ithriyah-Khanasser Road because this is the second time in 5 months that the road has been cutoff.