ISIL Repelled on the Outskirts of the Sheikh Najjar District of Aleppo

ISIL is steadily advancing around Syria and Iraq, as their recent capture of Al-Ramadi (provincial capital) in the Al-‘Anbar Governorate (Iraq); the capture of Palmyra in the Homs Governorate; and the seizure of the Al-Tanf border-crossing have revitalized a number of their embattled militants that are entrenched on numerous fronts.

On Thursday morning, ISIL took advantage of their recent gains in east Aleppo by attacking the outskirts of the Syrian Government controlled Sheikh Najjar Industrial District located in the northeastern part of the provincial capital; however, the assault was repelled by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) after fierce clashes erupted at the 3rd Zone in the southeastern part of the Industrial District.

Despite multiple claims by ISIL social media activists about the alleged infiltration into the Sheikh Najjar Industrial District, the armed combatants were unsuccessful after launching two powerful attacks on the Syrian Armed Forces’ frontline defenses from the village of Tal Shamir located southeast of the district.

According to a military source, the Syrian Armed Forces killed 22 enemy combatants from ISIS, including ‘Umar Mohammad Al-Bustani, Shadi Waleed Khodor, and Mahmoud Mustafa Al-Naimi before asserting full control over all of the Sheikh Najjar District’s defensive points.

In addition to their assault on the Sheikh Najjar Industrial District, the militants from ISIS launched another assault on the beleaguered Kuweires Military Airbase, attacking the soldiers from the Syrian Air Defenses at the western and southern flanks; however they were unsuccessful in breaching the airbase’s fortifications.