Hello and welcome to the 248th installment of the SWD .

Military events/news are listed below by the governorates:

Aleppo:

Harakat Nour al-Deen al-Zenki and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham reached the final agreement to end the infighting in the western Aleppo and northern Idlib. The ceasefire agreement includes removal of barriers, reopening of the roads, release of prisoners on both side, and formation of a joint committee to resolve the outstanding issues. The agreement also prohibits media incitements and calls for the creation of a joint operations room against the Syrian Arab Army and its allies. Besides the two parties, the agreement was also signed by the Saudi sheikh Abdullah al-Muhaysini, who was involved in reaching an agreement with Sheikh Musleh Mohammad al-Aliani, in the presence of the Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Ahrar.

Harakat Nour al-Deen al-Zenki’s spokesman, Captain Abdul Salam Abdul Razzaq stated that the process of preparing the release of the prisoners on both sides is ongoing, and that the release should happen today. According to Razzaq, the number of prisoners on both sides is about 100.

Unknown gunmen attacked checkpoint of Free Syrian Army’s Al-Jabhat al-Shamiyah in Al-Ghandoura town. Commander in Al-Jabhat al-Shamiyah, known as Abu Staif said that the unknown gunmen in a van and a pickup opened fire on the group’s checkpoint, killing one fighter and wounding another three.

Five children were wounded by an explosion in Al-Bab city. Director of the Al-Bab’s Civil Defense (The White Helmets), Khaled Karez stated that the children were lightly wounded by the explosion which targeted the area near Al-Muhadatha school. Wounded individuals were transferred to Al-Hikmah hospital.

Free Syrian Army’s Hawar Kilis Operations Room released a statement refusing the entry of international aid, transported by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent from the Syrian government-held areas towards TFSA -held Al-Bab. The statement said that “The Euphrates Shield” area doesn’t need this aid. Additionally, the statement accused the Syrian government of trying to infiltrate Al-Bab area through its ‘intelligence agency’, Syrian Arab Red Crescent under the pretext of delivering aid. The statement continued with accusations stating that the aid is an attempt by the Syrian government to show that it cares for the needs of its people, in front of the international community. Hawar Kilis Operations Room called for the establishment of humanitarian aid to the besieged areas of the East Ghouta, the northern Homs countryside, Deir al-Zour, and the Syrian desert camps. This was the Syrian Arab Red Crescent’s first attempt to deliver the humanitarian aid to the city of Al-Bab.

Idlib:

Improvised explosive device planted by unknown individuals exploded on the road near Tal Eass, southern Idlib. The explosion occurred when a motorcycle was passing on the road, killing three individuals on board.

Car bomb exploded at the eastern entrance of the city of Idlib, near the Al-Mihrab roundabout. Reports indicate that three civilians were killed and 13 wounded in the explosion. Shortly after the explosion, an unidentified reconnaissance plane was spotted above the area of explosion, fueling the rumors that the explosion was a drone attack on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s vehicle.

Homs:

Yesterday, a group of Ahrar al-Sham’s snipers conducted an attack on Syrian Arab Army’s checkpoint near Jarjisa village, northwest of Al-Rastan. Leader of the Northern Homs Countryside Operations Room, Lieutenant Colonel Talal Mansour stated that the snipers killed seven SAA ‘s soldiers and injured several others. Mansour added that the group returned to their positions without any losses, and that the operations room reserves the right to respond to any SAA ‘s breaches of the de-escalation agreement.

Mansour indirectly confirmed that this was a retaliatory attack by AAS against SAA , after SAA ‘s sniper killed AAS fighter a couple of days in the Northern Homs pocket.

Hama:

Syrian Arab Army reportedly captured Khirbet al-Rahjan from the rebel forces, north of Sarha Shamaliya. SAA also reportedly repelled Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s attacks towards Qasr Ali and Arafa.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham reportedly captured Marijab al-Jumalan from the SAA , after starting an assault on it with an SVBIED , which was supposedly destroyed before reaching SAA ‘s positions. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Ibaa News Agency reported death of a dozen of SAA ‘s soldiers due to a failed advance from the Rebda. Furthermore, the agency claimed death of eight SAA ‘s soldiers after a failed advance from Qasr Ali.

Jaysh al-Izza’s member of the information office, Fajr Ismail stated that the group repelled SAA ‘s attack on Balil and killed dozen of SAA ‘s soldiers.

Free Idlib Army released a statement reporting the destruction of Syrian Arab Army’s T-72 tank with a TOW anti-tank guided missile on Arafa front.

Approximate situation on the northeastern Hama fronts. Source: Peto Lucem

Deir al-Zour:

Syrian Democratic Forces reportedly captured Al-Tayyanah and Al-Shanan from the Islamic State in the eastern Deir al-Zour.

Syrian Arab Army allegedly captured Hawijah Kati from the Islamic State, north of Deir al-Zour. The capture of the locality was falsely reported by pro-government forces on the 4th of November. Syrian Arab Army’s “ISIS Hunters” reported the capture of 250 IS’ fighters in the area, including the western fighters.

Islamic State’s car bomb exploded in SDF -held Faraj village. The attack targeted civilian gathering in the village, killing 20 civilians and wounding 25, according to the spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces’ Al-Jazeera Storm (Asifat al-Jazeera) operation, Laila al-Abdullah. One SDF ‘s fighter was killed in the explosion and two wounded, as they were providing services to the civilians.

Islamic State’s Amaq Agency claimed death of six Syrian Democratic Forces’ fighters and destruction of a vehicle during the clashes between the two, east of Al-Omar field.

Situation in Albu Kamal (Al-Bukamal) – Al-Qaim area. Source: Rr016

Damascus:

Ahrar al-Sham and Syrian Arab Army clashed in and around ‘Army Armored Vehicle Base’ in Harasta, without any change in the control of the locality. Ahrar al-Sham’s spokesman for the East Ghouta, Mundhir Fares stated that SAA launched a counterattack to recover lost positions, which led to a number of SAA ‘s casualties. Fares claimed that AAS damaged SAA ‘s tank with a mortar, wounding the entire crew. Several Ahrar al-Sham’s fighters only suffered light injuries in the clashes, according to Fares. Most importantly, Fares stated that the offensive is solely launched and fought by Ahrar al-Sham, without any participation from the other rebel groups.

Faylaq al-Rahman’s spokesman, Wael Alwan said that the group has assigned artillery to target the common enemy, SAA in Harasta. But, Alwan also said that there is no direct coordination with the Ahrar al-Sham that is leading the offensive in Harasta. However, Alwan expressed FAR ‘s readiness to join the offensive immediately in the joint military operations room.

Syrian Arab Air Force conducted more than a dozen of air raids over Douma, Harasta, Masraba, Arbeen, Hammouriya, Zamalka, and Jobar. Four civilians were killed in Douma, and more than a dozen wounded in the aforementioned localities.

Syrian Civil Defence (The White Helmets) stated that its forces were targeted by the airstrikes over Douma while on duty, resulting in death of three members and injury of the remaining deployed members. The civil defence also called on the United Nations to act immediately.

Rebel shelling of several areas in Damascus city killed four civilians, a SAA ‘s soldier, and wounded more than a dozen of civilians. Three civilians were killed and seven wounded by the shelling of Al-Hal market, in Al-Zablatani area. One civilian was killed and five wounded by the shelling of Al-Dulayah neighborhood. Syrian Arab Army’s soldier was killed by the shelling of the checkpoint in Bab Touma neighborhood. Furthermore, several civilians were injured by the shelling in Jaramana.

Iraq

Anbar:

Iraqi Army backed by Al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) captured the last major IS’ stronghold in Iraq, the city of Rawa. The capture of Rawa happened sooner than expected, as the operation to capture it was launched at dawn. Capture of Rawa was confirmed by the commander of the operation, Abdul Amir Rashid Yaar Allah.

Situation in the western Anbar. Source: Emmanuel

CJTF-OIR :

Between the 13th and the 16th of November 2017 CJTF-OIR has conducted five strikes in Syria. CJTF-OIR ‘s main focus in Syria at the moment is Deir al-Zour region where they did two strikes supporting SDF ‘s operations against IS destroying an IS vehicle and three explosive hazards.

Full report on CJTF-OIR strikes conducted in both Syria & Iraq can be found here.

Amaq Agency:

Other:

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