This success offers hope of strengthening Assad's positions in Aleppo:
Syrian government troops have broken through a six-month rebel blockade in northern Syria and are now fighting to recapture a vital highway, opposition and state media said on Monday.
Rebels had kept the army bottled up in the Wadi al-Deif and Hamidiya military bases in Idlib province. But on Sunday, President Bashar al-Assad's forces outflanked the rebels and broke through, the pro-government al-Baath newspaper said.
The insurgents counter-attacked on Monday but their front has been weakened in recent weeks due to infighting and the deployment of forces to other battles, activists said.
The Syrian military should be able to move wherever it wants given its firepower and armor. So this isn't that amazing.
What is more amazing is that the two bases were cut off for 6 months by the rebels. That's amazing.
If the rebels truly did thin out their forces, believing this was a quiet sector, the Syrian army may not be able to commit the forces to hold their gains for long as the rebels respond.
That's the problem. Syria lacks sufficient troops to control all the land they want to control. What hole did Assad's force leave to concentrate the ground forces for the success in Idlib?
