Nearly one year ago, the National Defense Forces (NDF) launched a massive offensive to lift the two year long siege of both Nubl and Al-Zahra’a in the northern Aleppo countryside.

For a brief two hours, the National Defense Forces of Aleppo City reached the besieged towns in northern Aleppo; however, reinforcements from Turkey poured into the Aleppo Governorate to help the Islamist rebels reestablish control over the Al-Malaah Farms, Hardatineen, Bashkoy and Rityan

The Islamist rebels of Jabhat Al-Nusra (Syrian Al-Qaeda group) and Jaysh Al-Mujahiddeen were able recapture almost all of those aforementioned sites, besides the imperative village of Bashkoy, which still remains under the Syrian Arab Army’s control.

On Saturday morning, an extremely large force of Iraqi paramilitary fighters traveled to the Aleppo Governorate from Iraq in order to prepare for the major offensive taking place in the upcoming weeks.

According to a military source in the Aleppo Governorate, some 1,500 Iraqi paramilitary fighters joined the resistance forces preparing to launch a large-scale offensive at Al-Zahra’a and Nubl.

The date of this alleged offensive was not revealed by our sources, but it is expected to begin in the coming weeks as the Syrian Armed Forces strengthen their positions in the Aleppo Govenrorate’s southern countryside.