One Tuesday afternoon, the Syrian Arab Army’s 9th Armored Division – in coordination with Fouj Al-Joulan (Golan Regiment), Liwaa Suqour Al-Quneitra (Al-Quneitra Hawks Brigade), and the National Defense Forces (NDF) – launched a fresh offensive at the town of ‘Umm Batna in the Al-Quneitra Governorate after almost a year of inactivity on this front.

The Syrian Armed Forces conducted a joint assault with the local Druze militiamen at the towns of Al-Samdaniyah Al-Sharqiyah and ‘Ajraf, killing a confirmed 16 enemy combatants from the Free Syrian Army’s “Southern Front Brigades” and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” before the fighting dissipated by nightfall.

The new offensive in the northeastern countryside of the Al-Quneitra Governorate is likely to be rather small, as the Syrian Armed Forces nitpick at different points that are part of the Dara’a and Al-Quneitra triangle; this assault will model the recent offensive launched by the Syrian Arab Army’s 15th Brigade of the 5th Armored Division in the town of Kafr Shamis.

It should come as no surprise that the end goal for these small-scale offensives is the eventual capture of Al-Harra in the Houran Plains; this is a strategic city located on the border of the Dara’a and Al-Quneitra Governorates.

If the Syrian Armed Forces can capture Al-Harra, they will have effectively cutoff the rebel’s main supply line from the Dara’a Governorate to their positions in the Al-Quneitra Governorate.