Qara, Mhin and the Battle of Qalamoon
Husein Murtada
Recently, the Syrian army prevailed on Mhin . The town of Mhin is located along a significant 31- km axis stretching from Qareitein to Mhin and "Saddad" at the eastern countryside of Homs near the military airbase of Shairat.
During the past days, the armed militias targeted the gas well near Saddad and they also attacked Hajana (cavalry squad) near Hawareen which is a town neighboring Mhin. The armed militias firstly launched two suicidal attacks against military bases, and then they stormed Saddad and ruled it for a short time.
Immediately, the Syrian army executed a military operation cleansing the entire town of Saddad in a few days. As a matter of fact, Saddad was not the main target for the armed militias. Rather, it was a medium to reach Mhin village that has the second largest armory in Syria after those located in Sfeera.
When the Syrian army took over the eastern and southern countryside of Qussair, the terrorist militias in Qalamoon suffered a sharp lack of any logistic aid, especially weapons. Accordingly, few armed militias entered an armory at Mhin in a desperate attempt to provide supplies.
However the Syrian army besieged the town, cut all roads connecting it to its geographical surroundings, and targeted all moving vehicles inside.
This fast intervention of the army prevented the rebels from transporting weapons towards Qalamoon.
The Syrian army was able to wisely and completely besiege the entire area, executing a bypass military operation. The encircled rebels were about 3000 fighters from Nusra front, the so-called Khadraa squad, and Maghaweer squad. The army attacked armed militias from different angles. Simultaneously, troops of the Syrian army were separating Yabrood from Qara, that is considered the main road to Qalamoon and moving along the axis stretching from eastern Deir Attia, Nabak, Qara, Ruhaibe, to the axis of Jroud, Rankoos, Sydnaia, Maloula, Ersal, Zabadani, and Barada valley.
According to the military expert Ali Maksood, it is a very topographically complicated area for military action.
The battle started along all directions simultaneously.
The Syrian army entered Hawareen, and al-Hadath then continued cleansing Mhin.
On the southern axis, special forces of the Syrian army stormed Humaira to the east of Deir Attia. This town is considered as a significant base for the different militias especially the so-called Islamic army that is directly Saudi backed.
Recently, many fighters took it as a refuge. Deir Attiah is considered as the gate of Qalamoon, where armed militias were shocked by the sudden attack of the Syrian army. Qara used to be a strategic area for the rebels reaching Zabadani and Ersal. After the military operation, Qara now is a hotspot frontier.
The strategic weight of Mhin lies in its geographic location. Mhin lies between the southern - southern eastern countryside of Homs and the western-northern countryside of Damascus.
Such a location makes it an essential center for supplying the armed gangs coming from Palmera and Sukhna through the Syrian Desert stretching from the Jordanian- Iraqi boarders towards Qalamoon.
As previously mentioned, Mhin is also important because it has the second largest armory after that in Sfeera.
According to a military source, the armed militias desperately tried to boost the morale of their fighters especially after their critical defeat in Qareitein, Palmera Mountains and Sukhna in the eastern countryside of Homs.
Therefore, the militias posted some photos online claiming that they controlled Mhin armory, while in fact they took very little worthy weapons from armory number 4. They were even unable to take weapons out.
Source: Al-Ahed news
