HAY’AT TAHRIR AL-SHAM CONSOLIDATES CONTROL IN WESTERN ALEPPO, CAPTURES KEY TOWN FROM SLF

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On March 4, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters recaptured the key town of Tuqad in the western Aleppo countryside from the Syrian Liberation Front (SLF), according to the pro-opposition STEP News Agency. The SLF imposed its control over Tuqad on February 27 after HTS fighters had withdrawn from it without a fight.

Syrian opposition sources reported that more than ten fighters of HTS and the SLF had been killed in clashes inside and around Tuqad.

Meanwhile, the SLF-linked news agency Madad Press announced that SLF fighters had destroyed six tanks of HTS with rocket-propelled grenades and ATGMs in the town of Tuqad and the villages of al-Sa’adiyah and A’jil around it over the last 48 hours.

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The STEP News Agency reported that HTS fighters are currently attacking the position of the SLF around the village of al-Sa’adiyah. HTS will likely impose its control over the village in the upcoming hours.

Local observers believe that the next main target of HTS will by the strategic city of Darat Izza, located within 8km north of Tuqad. SLF fighters are currently building fortifications inside the city, according to opposition sources.

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