A series of powerful artillery and air strikes that hit the trenches in the Idlib terrorist de-escalation zone allowed Syrian Arab Army units to move forward.
The jihadists were reportedly forced to retreat from the townships of Alsurman and Abo Maqqi, east of the town of Maarret en Nuuman. This allowed the 25th Special Forces Division, which consists of fighters from the elite Tiger Force, 4th Mechanized Division and 5th SAA Corps, to approach the town of Jarjanaz, a large militant base, for a distance of one and a half kilometres.
After long battles the government troops surrounded the city and entered it from the south, east and northeast directions. However, they encountered resistance only on the western outskirts, where a rearguard of jihadists covered the retreat.
In parallel, the SAA successfully drove the militants out of Khirbet Ma’aret, Khirbet Hisar and then the town of Al-Gadfa. At the same time, a roadblock of the Turkish Armed Forces was completely blocked. The Syrian Arab Army has thus approached Ma’arret-Nu’man and can flank the key centre of armed gangs in the region.
As News Front previously reported, the conflict has escalated due to attacks by militants of the terrorist groups Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Ansar al-Tahid and Khurras al-Din. The attacks occurred on Friday night. The government troops were able to repel the attack. After that, the Syrian Arab Army went on the offensive with the support of the Russian Air and Space Forces.