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SYRIAN WAR REPORT – AUGUST 17, 2018: 5TH ASSAULT CORPS WILL PARTICIPATE IN UPCOMING BATTLE FOR IDLIB On August 16, militant groups operating in western Syria declared the villages of Banes, Birnah, al-Ottomania, Hwair al-Eis, Tell Bajir, Judiydah, Zummar and Jizrea in southwestern Aleppo part of a “military zone” and ordered civilians to leave the area within 48 hours. Additionally, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) and the Turkistan Islamic party had sent reinforcements to southwestern Aleppo. Local sources link these developments to the ongoing preparations of militant groups to fend off a possible advance of the Syrian Arab Army on their areas in western Syria. Meanwhile, four units of the Russian-backed 5th Assault Corps – the Assad Shield, the Mahardah Forces, the ISIS Hunters and the Ba’ath battalions – were deployed iHama.
