Reporting by Amar Bakour; Translation b Rana Abdul
(Zaman Al Wasl)- In the past two months, rebels foiled repeated attempts by the regime forces and its supporting militias to reach the strategic Castello road north of Aleppo city. In the night of Wednesday 29 June 2016, during a surprise attack, the rebels achieved a great advancement taking control of the village of Arab Slom and al-Asamat area the last regime controlled areas in the Mallah Farms. The attack came in tandem with less severe fighting in al-Khaldiyet and al-Ramouse areas.
The attack started after al-Nusra Front member Bilal l-Khatib, known as Abu Mounthir al-Hamawi, executed an explosive car attack. The attack was in tandem with the Sham Legion prefacing with heavy weapons followed by the participating factions’ advancement. They took control over the northern Mallah Farms and the southern farms known as al-Asamat amidst the withdrawal of the regime forces and its supporting militias under rebel strikes. The rebels continued their advancement to take control of the village of Arab Slom.
The rebel attack led to the death of tens of regime forces and members of supporting militias, and the destruction of a tank, a Vozlak carrier, a 23 caliber issue 2 cannon, a Cornet base issue 2 anti-tank guided missile. The rebels seized a Shilka carrier and a 23 caliber cannon as Abdel Sallam Abdel Razak, the spokesman for Haraket Nour al-Din al-Zenki, confirmed.
The battle for Mallah Farms took place at the same time as less fierce battles raged in al-Khalidyet neighborhood where rebels managed to destroy a tank and kill a number of regime force members. Al-Ramouse area also witnessed clashes during which rebels destroyed a 120 mm cannon inside the artillery school by targeting it with an anti-tank missile.
Mallah Farms area is considered the most dangerous point surrounding Aleppo city given it oversees the only supply route to the city, al-Castelo road, from the south west and in controlling the area regime forces delimit Hraytan, Hayan, and Kafr Hamra from the east according to military analysts. With the rebels’ attack and advancement, they dispelled the ghost of regime forces besieging Aleppo city after al-Castelo road was cut due to cross fire during the past days.
It must be mentioned that the regime forces tried to advance to al-Castelo road via Mallah Farms after intense bombing for over two months during which airplanes used all kinds of weapons including the internationally banned phosphor bombs, and it achieved a partial advance in Mallah Farms before the rebels liberated the village of Arab Slom and Mallah Farms.
The Mallah front also witnessed rebels seizing their first T90 tank, considered the pride of Russian manufacturing, at the start of June 2016. Mallah area is considered one of the areas where the regime forces and its supporting militias suffered their greatest losses especially after rebels thwarted attacks in 2015 which led to the loss of more than 300 lives from the regime forces and their supporting militias. At the time the Ismail Nasif, the military leader of Haraket Nour al-Din al-Zenki, referred to the head of the Hezbollah militia as ‘Hassan Zemirah’.
(Zaman Al Wasl)- In the past two months, rebels foiled repeated attempts by the regime forces and its supporting militias to reach the strategic Castello road north of Aleppo city. In the night of Wednesday 29 June 2016, during a surprise attack, the rebels achieved a great advancement taking control of the village of Arab Slom and al-Asamat area the last regime controlled areas in the Mallah Farms. The attack came in tandem with less severe fighting in al-Khaldiyet and al-Ramouse areas.
The attack started after al-Nusra Front member Bilal l-Khatib, known as Abu Mounthir al-Hamawi, executed an explosive car attack. The attack was in tandem with the Sham Legion prefacing with heavy weapons followed by the participating factions’ advancement. They took control over the northern Mallah Farms and the southern farms known as al-Asamat amidst the withdrawal of the regime forces and its supporting militias under rebel strikes. The rebels continued their advancement to take control of the village of Arab Slom.
The rebel attack led to the death of tens of regime forces and members of supporting militias, and the destruction of a tank, a Vozlak carrier, a 23 caliber issue 2 cannon, a Cornet base issue 2 anti-tank guided missile. The rebels seized a Shilka carrier and a 23 caliber cannon as Abdel Sallam Abdel Razak, the spokesman for Haraket Nour al-Din al-Zenki, confirmed.
The battle for Mallah Farms took place at the same time as less fierce battles raged in al-Khalidyet neighborhood where rebels managed to destroy a tank and kill a number of regime force members. Al-Ramouse area also witnessed clashes during which rebels destroyed a 120 mm cannon inside the artillery school by targeting it with an anti-tank missile.
Mallah Farms area is considered the most dangerous point surrounding Aleppo city given it oversees the only supply route to the city, al-Castelo road, from the south west and in controlling the area regime forces delimit Hraytan, Hayan, and Kafr Hamra from the east according to military analysts. With the rebels’ attack and advancement, they dispelled the ghost of regime forces besieging Aleppo city after al-Castelo road was cut due to cross fire during the past days.
It must be mentioned that the regime forces tried to advance to al-Castelo road via Mallah Farms after intense bombing for over two months during which airplanes used all kinds of weapons including the internationally banned phosphor bombs, and it achieved a partial advance in Mallah Farms before the rebels liberated the village of Arab Slom and Mallah Farms.
The Mallah front also witnessed rebels seizing their first T90 tank, considered the pride of Russian manufacturing, at the start of June 2016. Mallah area is considered one of the areas where the regime forces and its supporting militias suffered their greatest losses especially after rebels thwarted attacks in 2015 which led to the loss of more than 300 lives from the regime forces and their supporting militias. At the time the Ismail Nasif, the military leader of Haraket Nour al-Din al-Zenki, referred to the head of the Hezbollah militia as ‘Hassan Zemirah’.
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