Battle-weary Syrian forces struggle despite Russian air war

Devastated by years of fighting, Syria's battle-weary armed forces are struggling to make significant gains despite intense Russian air support for a series of new offensives.

Nearly three weeks of air strikes have given Bashar al-Assad's regime and his forces a morale boost, analysts say, but so far the effect on the ground has been negligible.

Still, military sources in Damascus say it will take time for the regime to regain ground and are confident of a turnaround.

A longtime ally of Damascus, Russia escalated its support in late September with an air campaign aimed at bolstering regime positions and backing ground operations by Syrian government troops. It has so far carried out more than 500 air strikes.

Joined by fighters from Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement and Iran's elite Quds force, Syria's army has in the last two weeks launched ground assaults in Aleppo in the north, Hama and Homs in the centre, Latakia along the coast and outside Damascus.

The army has made small gains, seizing some villages in Aleppo, Homs and Hama. 

But it has yet to regain control over any key sites or supply routes and a major advance launched in Aleppo on Saturday -- and boosted by a reported 2,000 Iranian and Iran-backed fighters -- seems to have stalled.

"The air support from Russia by itself is not enough to tip the balance in the favour of the regime, especially since there are so many gaps and weak spots in the Syrian army's ground forces," said Yezid Sayigh at the Carnegie Middle East Centre.

The Syrian army's 300,000-strong pre-war force has been roughly halved by deaths, defections and widespread draft-dodging.

Photograph : Russia Insider