page_title: Northwestern Syria campaign (October 2017–February 2018)
section_title: Army push towards Abu al-Duhur
hierarchical_section_title: Northwestern Syria campaign (October 2017–February 2018) / The offensive / Army push towards Abu al-Duhur
caption_attribution_description: English: The changing front lines in the North-Western Syria Campaign.
context_page_description: The Northwestern Syria campaign was a large-scale military operation that initially started with an offensive conducted by ISIL forces on areas controlled by Tahrir al-Sham in the northern Hama Governorate. Subsequently, the Syrian Armed Forces launched their own offensive against HTS and other rebel groups in the area. The campaign took place at the intersection of the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo.
context_section_description: A renewed offensive by pro-government forces began in December, with its main target the rebel-held air base of Abu al-Duhur on the southeastern edge of Idlib and securing the road linking Damascus to Aleppo. According to Reuters, government forces are assisted by Iranian-backed militias and Hezbollah in the offensive. The government and its allies took the Idlib village of a-Ruwaydah on 19 December, and conducted two airstrikes on a residential area in the town of Maar Shurin 40 km to the northwest on 20 December, reportedly killing at least 18 civilians including 10 children.
  Five villages were recaptured by HTS from ISIL during a counter-attack on 20 December, including Rasm Hammam, though not long afterwards ISIL seized Rasm Hammam once again. During 26 December, the Syrian Army captured an Air Defense Battalion base (Zawr as Sus) and the hilltop of Tell al-Aswad. The same day, HTS shot down a Syrian Arab Air Forces L-39 Albatross using a Strela-2 MANPADS, capturing the pilot and later executing him.
  Intense Russian airstrikes were reported on 28–29 December, alongside heavy fighting concentrated in the key village of Abu Dali in southern Idlib. The Syrian Army reported a breakthrough against rebel forces on 28 December, capturing three villages, including Mushayrifah, and later in the day entered Abu Dali, which they said had been abandoned by rebel fighters. On 29 December, Hamadaniyeh, south-west of Abu Dali, was captured by the Syrian Army led by Tiger Forces. After two failed attempts, a rebel stronghold with multiple entrenchments, Atshan, was captured on 30 December by the Tiger Forces. Later, together with 4th Division soldiers, they took the villages of Abu Omar, Al-Saloumyah and Al-Jadouyah.
  Umm Elkhalayel, Niha, Hawa, Ard az-Zurzur, Mashraft al-Jouaan, Dreibiyeh, Umm Sehrij were amongst a dozen of settlements captured by the Syrian Army between 1 and 3 January 2018. This period also saw what an aid worker described as a "systematic" attack on hospitals in the region by pro-government forces, with eight hit between the end of December and the beginning of January, allegedly including a major maternity hospital in Maarat al Numan, killing five people and injuring scores, according to pro-rebel Syrian American Medical Society. According to UN figures, more than 70,000 people had fled their homes and moved further into Idlib in recent weeks.
  In the morning of 4 January 4 villages in Idlib where captured. Fourteen more settlements were captured by Syrian Army on 5 January after clashes with fighters of Tahrir al-Sham and Jaysh al-Izza. During the same day ISIL militants captured two villages from other rebel groups. The villages of Al-Nasiriya, Lweibdeh Sharki and Lweibdeh Shamaliyah were captured by the Syrian Army during night raid going on into the early hours of 6 January. Further into 6 January, three rural settlements, including Sheikh Barakeh, were captured, in resulting the Syrian Army reaching the outskirts of the key crossroad town of Sinjar. Two more villages were captured in the afternoon. In the morning of 7 January, three additional villages were taken. Numerous localities were taken throughout the day by the Syrian Army, including Sinjar itself. The same day, a rocket attack targeted a Turkish military convoy in Idlib, the rocket landing 20–30 meters from the convoy in Darat Izza district, and in the night Russian and government airstrikes killed at least 21 civilians in Idlib. On 8 January, the Syrian Army captured 14 villages,  and dozens of airstrikes were reported by Idlib Civil Defense to have resulted in at least 14 deaths. On 9 January, the Syrian Army captured 15 towns and villages including  Rahjan. On 10 January, the Syrian Army captured 25 towns and villages including Tell Silmo, Zafar Saghir, Zafar al-Kabir and Rasm Abed in Idlib governorate, thus reaching the outskirts of Abu al-Duhur Military Airbase. Within Hama governorate, the last HTS stronghold of Um Myal has been captured. This left the HTS-controlled area in the countryside where Hama District borders Idlib and Aleppo governo
caption: The changing fronts of the push towards Abu al-Duhur. From 27 Dec – 13 Feb