The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's official branch in Syria, Ahrar al Sham, and elements of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army have advanced on regime positions in the northwestern province of Idlib.
The Al Nusrah Front, supported by jihadist groups Ahrar al Sham and Jund al Aqsa, and units from the Free Syrian Army, today claimed to have overrun Wadi Al Daif, a Syrian Army base located just east of the city of Maa'rat al Nu'man. In addition, Ahrar al Sham, Al Nusrah, and the Free Syrian Army also advanced on Al Hamadiya, which sits just south of the city; the groups claimed to have taken partial control of Al Hamadiya.
Control of the two bases is critical for the Syrian military as they straddle the M5 highway, the main road from Aleppo to Damascus. The military uses the highway to supply its forces in Aleppo, Idlib, and other areas in northern Syria. The Syrian military and rebels fought over the two bases from October 2012 until April 2013, when the military broke the siege of Wadi Al Daif and Al Hamadiya.
The recent round of fighting for control of the two bases intensified over the weekend. Yesterday, two regime checkpoints near the bases were
reported to have fallen into the hands of the jihadists and the Free Syrian Army. And today, the Al Nusrah Front reported that its fighters completely overran the regime at Wadi al Daif, while Ahrar al Sham claimed its forces overran a large portion Al Hamadiya. In a video posted to YouTube, an Ahrar al Sham leader says that
the group captured 10 tanks and killed dozens of regime soldiers during the fighting. The claims cannot be independently verified.