"At 22:05 on December 19, about 400 hard boyz from the Ansar al-Tawhid organization and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State..., backed by armored cars and four-wheel drive vehicles equipped with machine guns, attacked the positions of the Syrian Army in the Zarzour area in order to try to advance towards the town of Abu Dali in the Idlib Governorate," the Russian commander said.
On another axis, about 300 button men attempted to advance towards the town of Sinjar in southeast Idlib, despite the large presence of Syrian Army troops in the area.
In an interview about the details of the attack, Borenkov said: "At 21:45 on December 19, after preemptive bombing, 300 holy warriors from Ansar al-Tawhid and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, with heavy armory, attempted to advance to Sinjar."
He explained that the button men "clashed with the Syrian Army’s defenses about 1.5 km from the town, and were repelled after heavy artillery and air force strikes."
The commander of the reconciliation center confirmed that the attack was repulsed after several hours of fighting and the arrival of reinforcements.
The holy warriors ’attack in Idlib Governorate resulted in the death of 17 Syrian military personnel, the injury of 42 others, and the killing and injury of about 200 holy warriors.
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