These are crucial hours for Syria. While the celebrations for the liberation of Aleppo begin in the north, the spotlights are rekindled on the southern front, between Palmira and Deir Ezzor.
If the anti-Assad rebels surrender in the smoking rubble of the country's second city, the revived Islamic State launches two massive offensives east of Homs: with the first, it has recaptured the skeletons of Palmyra, closing the Syrian army in the pocket of the air base of Tyas (known as T-4); with the second the city of Deir Ezzor, besieged for years in south-eastern Syria, is pressing.
The Tyas base, about 40 km west of Palmyra, is located in the middle of the desert close to road 32 that cuts across Syria horizontally towards Homs. It is the heart of what was Roman Syria from the time of Pompey to those of Diocletian.
At this time, while the Syrian army is trying to fortify defensive lines while waiting for reinforcements, Russian air forces are targeting the Caliphate posts. The first assault on the base was rejected on the morning of Tuesday 13 December. New attacks are expected in the next few hours. The air base is considered of great strategic value because it is the only one in the desert area east of Homs in the hands of the Damascus forces.
The war rages in a big way also in Deir Ezzor, for four years without peace. Hordes of Islamic militiamen allegedly attempted an assault on the Hawiqa and Al Rashdeyah neighborhoods. The first is at the center of the two branches of the Euphrates that cross the city; the second on the western bank of the river, in the hands of the forces of Damascus.
All the attacks would be rejected for now, but tough clashes are planned for the next few hours.
It is striking the renewed strength of the Caliphate, which would have redeployed fresh forces on the front of Palmyra and Deir Ezzor coming essentially:
- from the north, where the momentary ceasefire that involved the Syrian army, the Russian air forces and the rebel filoturizan militiamen allowed the ISIS militias to breathe;
- from Iraq, where around Mosul the coalition offensive continues in style but still without decisive successes.
To understand the evolution of the situation it will be essential in the next few hours to understand the exact strategic weight of the Syrian victory in Aleppo and how the redistribution of forces will change accordingly.
(photo: SAA)
