Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces Advance to Jaroud Qarah in the Qalamoun Mountains

Following their successful campaign at Jaroud Jarajeer, the Syrian Arab Army’s 20th and 128th Brigades of the 1st Armored Division – in coordination with Hezbollah and the National Defense Forces (NDF) – have advanced to the rugged hills of Jaroud Qarah, where they have launched a new assault on the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) defensive positions at this region in the Qalamoun Mountains of Syria.

This new assault at the northern hills of the Qalamoun Mountains of Syria comes forty days after the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah conducted a successful offensive that resulted in the capture of over 250 square km of territory from the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra”; this has forced the aforementioned to retreat to the ‘Arsal District of Lebanon, where they are still under attack by the Lebanese Resistance.

Jaroud Qarah is the final pocket of resistance under ISIS and/or Jabhat Al-Nusra control in the Syrian part of the Qalamoun Mountains, leaving only the ‘Arsal Barrens and the eastern countryside of the Nahle Municipality left to capture for the Lebanese Resistance; however, they are not alone, as the Syrian Arab Air Force (SAAF) has conducted a number of airstrikes in eastern Lebanon.

If Hezbollah and the Syrian Armed Forces can capture Jaroud Qarah, this will free-up over 6,500 Syrian Arab Army soldiers and 2,250 National Defense Forces fighters that are currently entrenched at these vast mountains in western Syria.