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Syrian premier announces operation to liberate city of Aleppo Tass 51204162

Defence & Security News - Syria

Syrian premier announces operation to liberate city of Aleppo

Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi meeting a delegation of Russian members of parliament has said that Russian Aerospace Force and Syrian Armed Forces were planning a combined joint operation designed to liberate Aleppo.

Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi has announced operations to liberate the city of Aleppo (Photo : YouTube)

A key precondition for the success of any operation is covert preparations, surprise and speed. Usually, the concept of operations (CONOPS) is fully known only to several persons - the commander, his chief of staff and chief of operations. The rest of the subordinates are informed on the need-to-know basis. The number of people participating in operational and operational-strategic planning is very limited.

The CONOPS determines the forms of the maneuver (frontal or splitting attacks along one or several axes of advance, converging attacks, turning movement, envelopment), sequence of defeating the enemy forces and exploitation, and sequence of engagement. Deception measures, attack positions, lines of departure and time for launching the attack are determined separately, taking into account possible contingencies.

This information cannot be widely available; otherwise, success is questionable. Thus, the Syrian prime minister has virtually undermined the foundation of the art of war. Wael Nader al-Halqi has announced the operation being planned, in fact.

There may be three options. Firstly, the premier’s statement is an element of deception, designed to dupe the enemy. Secondly, Syrian leaders are so confident of success of the operation that they do not deem it necessary to stick to the rules of covert command and control. Thirdly, it is an outright leak. It is not known if the Syrian prime minister is privy to operational planning matters.

There are more than 1,000 terrorists north of Aleppo. They are armed with seven tanks and 24 high-mobility vehicles outfitted with large-caliber machineguns. Actually, the terrorists forces are not that formidable - not more than a reinforced infantry battalion.

To cap it all, the Syrian prime minister has said: "Our Russian partners and we are preparing an operation designed to liberate Aleppo and block the illegal armed groups that have failed to declare the truce or have violated it." It is not quite clear what he means by "liberation’ and "blocking" as far as military terminology is concerned. It is likely that other terms are applicable to the Aleppo operation, e.g. siege, bitter street fighting, mopping-up of the encircle force and seizure of the city of Aleppo - a major center of resistance of the terrorist in northern Syria.

In all probability, Bashar al-Assad and his troops are so confident of success that they have allowed the prime minister to announce the upcoming victory over the terrorists in Aleppo.