The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has used the ongoing clashes between ISIS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrain branch of al-Qaeda) in northern Ham to advance in the area, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham(HTS)-linked media outlet Iba’a reported on October 24.
According to the report, the SAA captured Ash Shuhatiyah village and deployed in the outskirts of Abu Miyal currently controlled by HTS members. Local sources say that HTS lost at least 1 vehicle there.
The advance allegedly took place after a series of airstrikes by Syrian and Russian warplanes.
While it is not likely that this advance is some kind of large-scale operation against terrorists, the local Syrian military command may use the ISIS-HTS tensions to shorten the frontline in the area and to build a bigger buffer zone near the highway heading to Aleppo city located in the nearby area.
Meanwhile, clashes between HTS and ISIS continued in the rest of the area.