The Syrian Arab Army’s elite special operations division known as the “Tiger Forces” (Qawat Al-Nimr) have served on several fronts in northern Syria and participated in a number of offensives to regain territory from the Islamist rebels and the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS).

With their militaristic flexibility and offensive strength gaining them notoriety, the Syrian Arab Army’s Tiger Forces have become a hot commodity for any government offensive, but their relatively small numbers make it difficult to deploy them to multiple fronts at once.

Luckily, the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Syrian Arab Army units in northern Hama do not have to wait long before their relief arrives, as the Tiger Forces are reportedly being deployed to northern Hama after they lift the two year long siege of the Kuweries Military Airport in the Aleppo Governorate’s eastern countryside.

Once the aforementioned offensive concludes, the Tiger Force’s second largest brigade known as the “Cheetah Forces” will be redeployed, along with their commander Colonel Shady Isma’eel.

According to a private military source in Damascus, the plan is to move the Tiger Forces from the Kuweries front to northern Hama front in order to forestall the Islamist offensive near the Christian city of Al-Sqaylabiyah and to recapture the territory lost in the last two weeks.

Colonel Suheil Al-Hassan (lead commander of the Tiger Forces) will be in charge of the operation, but he will split time between northern Hama and east Homs, where the “Panther Forces” are currently attacking ISIS along the Jazal-Palmyra Road.

The number of soldiers from the Cheetah Forces that are expected to be deployed to this front has not been confirmed; however, it is likely that several hundred could be redeployed to this front in the coming 48 hours if the siege of the Kuweires Airport is lifted.

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