Over 400 Turkish Backed Jihadists Killed in 24 Hours During Assault on Aleppo: Syrian Army Begins Counteroffensive

<p >Following the initiation of a large scale assault on November 27 by the Turkish-sponsored Al Nusra Front, a former Al Qaeda affiliate, which led other Islamist militant paramilitaries in an offensive against Syrian’s Aleppo governate, it was reported that over 400 militants were killed in the first 24 hours of engagements. The casualties were reported by deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, Captain 1st rank Oleg Ignasyuk, who stated: "Illegal armed units linked to the Jabhat Al Nusra terrorist organization started to attack government-controlled areas in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib at 7:50 a.m. on November 27. The Syrian army, backed by Russia’s Aerospace Forces, is engaged in heavy fighting. Terrorist units suffered major troop and equipment losses in the past 24 hours. At least 400 militants were eliminated.” The figures appear credible when considering Al Nusa’s demonstrated ability in the past to absorb massive casualties during its offensives, as well as the heavily fortified nature of the Syrian Arab Army’s positions between Aleppo and the Idlib governate where the jihadist group’s forces are based. Reports have indicated that foreign advisors supporting the offensives of have also been killed, with both Turkey and Ukraine having provided such support to Al Nusra in the front.</p><p ><img src=" title="Syrian Army Paratrooper Assault (image from Russian state media)"></p><p >Al Nusra and other extremist jihadist groups were previously able to gain control of the majority of Syrian territory in the mid-2010s, before a <a href=" target="_blank">major intervention</a> by Russia, Iran and the <a href=" target="_blank">Lebanese paramiltiary group Hezbollah</a> helped turn the tide of the war, allowing Syrian government forces to retake much of their lost territories. Al Nusra an other such groups are currently able to operate only in Syria’s northwestern Idlib governate, which the Turkish Armed Forces have placed under their protection. Turkey has established military bases and providing advisors, material support and even air defence systems to local militants. Prior Syrian efforts to evict Al Nusra and retake Idlib were halted by Turkish military interventions, which included <a href=" and artillery support</a> to target Syrian positions and protect militants on the ground. Al Nusra has more recently begun to receive <a href=" target="_blank">considerable support</a> from Ukrainian advisors an special forces, with Ukrainian support particularly focusing on training militants in the use of drones to more effectively target Russian and Syrian positions.</p><p >The Syrian Arab Army was reported on November 29 to have launched a counteroffensive to retake settlements captured by Al Nusra and its affiliates. Operations having received considerable support from the Russian Air Force using Khmeimim Airbase in the Latakia governate, with precision strikes by Russian aircraft having consistently played a pivotal role in the supporting such advances in the past. It has been speculated that Syrian forces may go on to launch a further attempt to capture more territory in Idlib, and use momentum from their counteroffensive to push back against jihadist forces. </p>