On Monday morning, the Syrian Arab Army’s 87th Brigade of the 10th Tank Division – in coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF) and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) – carried out a powerful assault on the Islamist rebels of the Free Syrian Army’s “Suqour Al-Ghaab”, “Division 111”, Faylaq Al-Sham, and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” at the northern Hama towns of Sukayk, Kafr Naboudeh, Al-Lahaya, and Latmeen, killing scores of the enemy combatants before the fighting dissipated at nightfall.

Following a morning of intense firefights, the Syrian Armed Forces finally broke through the Islamist rebels frontlines at the imperative town of Kafr Naboudeh, resulting in the capture of the southern district, which was later followed by the Syrian Army securing the town after a series of fierce clashes between the two opposing parties.

Unfortunately for the Syrian Armed Forces, this success at Kafr Naboudeh was short-lived, as the Islamist rebels of Faylaq Al-Sham and Jabhat Al-Nusra launched a counter-assault to retake the town; this counter-offensive was successful, as the Islamist rebels recaptured the town after forcing the Syrian Arab Army to retreat towards the village of Al-Mughayr.

However, the Syrian Armed Forces did experience some success in northern Hama on Monday, as the Syrian Arab Army and National Defense Forces took full control over the town of Sukayk in the Idlib Governorate, marking the first time in two months that the Syrian Government has had any presence inside this province (save Kafraya and Al-Fou’aa).

With Sukayk under their control, the Syrian Armed Forces are officially inside the Idlib Governorate.