To depart from the current focus on international events, I present the Khanāṣir Offensive Live Thread: rebels capture a town and weapons cache, armor destroy, IRAMs captured and the alleged execution of one 'mufti of the Alawis'

Khanāṣir Valley Offensive

Here's a very simple article from Al Jazeera

Khanāṣir is one of twenty-four villages located in the Khanasir valley; the village is located south west of Aleppo. The village of Khanāṣir sits on a key SAA supply route into Aleppo. The road snakes up from Hamah through the Khanasir valley and enters Aleppo from the west, see this map of control to see how the supply route enters the city; you'll see it passes into an area of SAA control sitting slightly by itself to the west and then loops south around contested/ opposition areas to SAA areas along the western third of Aleppo. Opposition activists claim that the seizure of this town severs the last SAA ground-supply line into Aleppo and begins the siege of the government forces there. For that we'll have to wait and see. What is clear is that the rebels captured armor, a weapons cache and inflicted losses on the government. It is also clear that once again Syrian Islamic Front (SIF) and not the FSA led the attacks, although the FSA al-Tawhid brigade did participate. The government's losses range somewhere between 50 (conservative) to 200 (activist claims); it is unclear whether these are NDF or SAA troops, but more likely the former. This is part of a multi-pronged offensive in Aleppo to take Khanasir (successful), Aleppo Int. Airport and Central Aleppo.

This post explores the offensive through primary and secondary evidence to ask questions about what occurred, who are the groups involved and what the repercussions will be.

Maps

Wikimapia

Google Maps

Map of control in Aleppo (August 8th)

Rebel Groups

The Syrian Islamic Front (SIF) claimed major responsibility for taking the town as have two FSA brigades Aleppo al-Shuhabah Brigade (the GoPro footage) and Liwa al Tawhid. Other groups involved were Harakat Fajr al-Sham al-Islamiya, Liwa al-Tawhid, Al-Forqa al-Tisah, Kataib Mujahidi ibn Taymiya, Kataib Hamza, Tajamu Fastaqm Kama Amrat, Tajamu Haina Deraa al-Thowra, Ansar al-Sunna & Ansar al-Mahdi. Liwa al Tawhid is the one of two FSA brigades I can identify involved, the other Aleppo al-Shuhabah Brigade has some well-trained fighters participating.

The rebels deployed infantry, artillery, tanks, GRAD rockets, DIY rockets, Hell Cannons in their assault.

Losses

Haaretz - quoting the SOHR said the NDF had lost 'dozens of soldiers' - "Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Observatory, told Reuters dozens of fighters from the paramilitary National Defence Forces (NDF) were killed. He said activists had so far counted 53 bodies"

NSFW - video shows 7 dead men

Video showing 8+ dead men inside a building

No statistics have been published on rebel losses.

Captured

Video shows one captured piece of mobile artillery and two captured tanks

Brown Moses - Rockets, mortars and Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions - Here we have a pile of around ten munitions known as IRAMs (Improvised Rocket Assisted Munitions

Video of captured munitions

Video

GoPro video of attack - FSA brigade, well trained - Apparently Syrian Support Group supplied GoPros

Grad rocket attack v. armor

Al Jazeera from edge of town of town showing Ahrar al Sham using tank in offensive

[Video shows rebels fighting in 'cultural center' of Khanasir] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmVJhMD-_RY&feature=youtu.be&a)

Video from mountains into town

Artillery piece involved in taking town

War Crimes

It's unclear what war crimes have taken place. Charles Lister alleges that there is a photo making the rounds of a Lt being beheaded; I have been unable to locate the photo but here is his claim. It is also rumored that an Alawite mufti was executed - opposition activists claim he played a part in the Banias massacres.

Interesting Notes

In this video Ahrar al Sham give a full report on what occurred - wish I spoke Arabic

Ahrar al Sham are repeatedly reporting the Iranians have been killed in Khanasir

Video of the black flag of the prophet being raised over Khanasir

The first two photos of this gallery show pictures from Khanasir; looks like a lot of fighters were involved

Conclusions

The rebels seized a significant target here. Khanasir, a town of 11,000 pre-war, is no small village and sits on top of a critical supply route to Aleppo. The rebels, led predominantly by Islamist factions but with a good mixture of FSA and Salafists, took the town after about four-five days of fighting. The rebels used armor, infantry and artillery. They captured armor, artillery shells and afflicted losses on the government fighters in Khanasir.

What we need confirmed/ difficult to predict from available evidence

• Ratio of Islamist to FSA groups involved? (Two FSA groups identified and one Islamist/ Salafist

• Extent of war crimes

• Effect of this on the fight for Aleppo.

• Were there Iranian fighters in Khanasir?

• Why are the government using DIY shells? And what can that tell us?