For two straight days, contingents from the Free Syrian Army’s “Southern Front Brigade” – in coordination with the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” – have attempted to break-through the Syrian Armed Forces’ frontline defenses at the strategic hills of Tal Kroum and Tal Baraq in the northeastern countryside of the Al-Quneitra Governorate.
Initially, the militants from the Southern Front were successful in breaching Fouj Al-Joulan (Golan Regiment) and Liwaa Suqour Al-Quneitra’s (Hawks of Quneitra Brigade) defenses at Tal Baraq; however, airstrikes from the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF), along with reinforcements from the National Defense Forces (NDF) and the Syrian Arab Army’s 9th Armored Division, helped deter and repel the advancing combatants on Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday morning, the FSA’s Southern Front launched another assault on Tal Baraq and Tal Kroum, but the soldiers from Fouj Al-Joulan and Liwaa Al-Quneitra were well-prepared this time, repelling the enemy combatants after a series of fierce clashes that resulted in the death of 8 members of the aforementioned groups of the Syrian Armed Forces and 17 enemy combatants.
According to a military source in the Al-Quneitra Governorate, the following militants were identified among the FSA’s casualties on Wednesday: Mohammad Bassam Al-Sweidani, Bashar Al-Jirad, Ahmad Firas Al-Khateeb, ‘Inad Mohammad Al-Delli, Ahmad Mou’taz Yousif Al-Mahmoud Al-Tamer, Ahmad Mohammad Al-Shebli, Firas Ahmad al-Za’abi (Abu Sa’ad), Mohammad Ahmad Hussein Al-‘Aweidan, Ahmad Ghaleb Al-Halaqi, ‘Umar ‘Abdel-Majeed Al-Halaqi, Mohammad Sleiman Nayaf Al-Qaweedar, Mohammad Riyadh Al-Faroukh (Abu Saleh), and Mohammad Salil Al-‘Aweidan.
In addition to their assault on Tal Baraq and Kroum, the Southern Front also attacked the towns of Al-Hamadiyeh and Al-Musahra, where they encountered a number of soldiers from the Syrian Arab Army’s 9th Division; this assault also proved ineffective, as the Syrian Armed Forces were able to push the enemy combatants out of the area.
