Alwaght- The same regional and global media that turned a blind eye to the plights of people of the two Syrian towns of al-Zahra and Nubl during their siege by the terrorist and Takfiri groups for nearly four years, have remained silent as the Syrian Arab army broke the siege, making a strategic gain in association with the Islamic resistance and other regional and international allied forces.
Therefore, the residents of al-Zahra and Nubl have succeeded, through legendary resistance, to defeat the terrorist and Takfiri groups which have been backed by some regional states and the Israeli regime. Using complicated and well-studied plans, the Syrian army has managed to save thousands of the inhabitants of al-Zahra and Nubl from an entrapment which could take lives of all of them.
How is this victory significant and what are its regional and strategic repercussions? To find answers for these questions Alwaght has interviewed the Lebanese strategic and military expert and researcher General Amin Hotait.
Alwaght: What are the military and political horizons, impacts and consequences of breaking the siege of the Syrian al-Zahra and Nubl towns by the Syrian army and the Islamic resistance’s forces?
Hotait: This victory has three aspects:
The first aspect is the humanitarian. These forces have managed to break the blockade and thus end the siege of a region inhabited by 70,000 Syrians, who were under blockade and have been cut off from food and medicine, consequently their normal life has been paralyzed. They were close to being subjected to genocide if there was not the wisdom and the right management of the two towns’ inhabitants.
And the second aspect is linked to the battlefield and military cases. In this aspect we have two issues to touch upon. The first is the Syrian army’s power to implement the assault plan as well as its adequate military expertise to launch the attack and its right use of fire power which supported the offensive in an hostile environment where the Syrian forces backed by their allies have been able to choke off the hostile forces which have seized al-Zahra and Nubl towns. At the end, the army made contacts with the resisting forces inside the towns. The operation was highly skilled and highly accurate because using the fire power against the hostile forces in a friendly environment is subject to limitations. This quick penetration has taken place deep in a region held by an enemy which is subject to its own considerations. These (mutual) considerations make no difference in limiting the assaulting forces and the besieged forces in what they can do to win the confrontation.
The second point concerning the military aspect is that the terrorist forces which surrounded Nubl and al-Zahra have reposed hope on the imagination that the besieged forces have become weak after three and half a year. But the battlefield experience has substantiated the fact that they have kept their lofty morale and their strong will and were capable of launching an offensive operation. This was observed in the massive penetration carried out by the besieged forces in al-Zahra and Nubl confrontation and the Khan battle. Such an operation has sent the terrorist forces into bewilderment, making them caught in crossfire. On one hand they were fighting the assaulting forces which came to break the siege and on the other hand they found themselves at the hands of the besieged forces and under their fires. Thereby, causing a remarkable turmoil among the terrorists, the liberating forces have pushed the terror fighters to surrender, as many of them fled the Syrian territories towards Turkey.
Concerning the strategic dimension of the quality operation conducted by the Syrian army and its allies, which has resulted in liberation of al-Zahra and Nubl towns, General Amin Hotait said that the strategic aspect, which is the most dangerous and the most significant one, is directly related to Turkey. Actually, Turkey was behind the blockade of al-Zahra and Nubl towns. It sought to keep this siege in place as a trump card not only against the Syrian government but against Iran and Hezbollah due to the religion of the residents and the towns’ demographic setup. Turkey wanted to swap and press but when the blockade was broken, Ankara found itself in front of a big loss of a precious bargaining chip which it held in its hand and delayed its use for an appropriate time.
In addition to this, in the strategic aspect Turkey has held the card of the terrorists who controlled a region stretching from Aleppo to the Turkish borders. When Ankara talked about the buffer zone or the no-fly zone inside Syria, it calculated to include Aleppo region in the safe zone. Since, Ankara intended to annex Aleppo to the occupied Scanderoon. Turkey thought that if it is not able to control Syria entirely, it could at least scissor lands out of the Arab country using its mercenaries, operatives and the terrorist groups. However, through this operation and entrance of the Syrian forces deep into the Syrian territories- as you know al-Zahra and Nubl are located between Aleppo and the Syrian-Turkish borders- Turkey has been dealt a strategic blow, because as it appears, the Syrian forces have moved in two directions, towards the Turkish borders where the Syrian army intends to fully cut off the country’s borders with the Turkish side and towards the south to tighten its grasp on Aleppo.
Concluding his talk to Alwaght, General Hotait said that “based on these developments, we would see that the strategic aspect of victory would lead to an essential transformation of the battlefield. That is why we have heard Turkey threatening to invade Syria. Besides, the US and Saudi Arabia have highlighted readiness for sending ground forces to Syria, claiming that their mission would be battling ISIS, but in fact they want to hinder the unique Syrian advances which are taking place in Aleppo.
