Moments ago, the Syrian Arab Army’s 4th Mechanized Division – in coordination with Hezbollah, Harakat Al-Nujaba (Iraqi paramilitary), the National Defense Forces (NDF) of Aleppo City, and Kataebat Al-Ba’ath (Al-Ba’ath Battalions) – carried out a successful mission to capture the farms located between the strategic towns of Khan Touman and Qarass in southern Aleppo.

According to a field report from southern Aleppo this morning, the Syrian Armed Forces and Lebanese Resistance surprised the Islamist rebels from Harakat Noureddine Al-Zinki, Harakat Ahrar Al-Sham, Liwaa Suqour Al-Sham, and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” with an assault at several locations after taking a brief hiatus from this offensive in order to repel the encroaching Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) fighters at Al-Safira and Ithriya.

With these farms under control, the Syrian Armed Forces and Lebanese Resistance have the ability to attack Khan Touman from two different flanks (east and north); previously, they only had access to the northern perimeter of the aforementioned town, which did bode well for an offensive attack due to the strategic advantages the enemy had around this rugged terrain.

Should the Syrian Armed Forces and Lebanese Resistance choose to attack Khan Touman, the assault would come from the eastern flank, where the enemy is not well-positioned.

The purpose of the Khan Touman offensive is to cutoff the Aleppo-Damascus International Highway that is used by the Islamist rebels in Idlib to transport supplies to their comrades in southern Aleppo.