The Syrian army, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah militias and Russian tanks advanced on Tal Awisha, 9 kilometres southeast of al-Bab, putting them a few hundred metres from the last main road leading out of al-Bab still running through ISIS territory. “[A]nd by that the regime forces took control of the road connecting between al-Bab area and the rest of the Syrian areas,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday.
ISIS in al-Bab is now surrounded by Turkish and its allied Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces to the north and Syrian regime forces to the south.
The Observatory said that the Syrian advance came as Turkish forces and their allies lost ground in the nearby town of Bza’a after an ISIS counter-attack and VBIED (vehicle-borne explosive device) bombing of Turkish and FSA forces.
Bza’a is located about 3.5 kilometres east of al-Bab.
Turkish and FSA forces have been attempting to gain control of al-Bab for about three months and incurred many casualties as ISIS has put up stiff resistance.
Syrian regime forces have been carrying out operations south of al-Bab for 20 days, the Observatory reported.
The Turkish military released a statement on Monday, claiming to have “neutralized” 21 ISIS militants in northern Syria, Hurriyet Daily News reported, noting that the military uses the term neutralized to refer to those killed, incapacitated, or captured.
The military’s statement also detailed that their jets had destroyed 65 ISIS targets in al-Bab and Bza’a.
