Russian media is reporting a massive attack against their forces and the Syrian government from al-Nusra

A Russian serviceman at Hmeimim airbase in Syria. RT/Sputnik.

Russian media is reporting a massive attack against the Syrian government and Russian forces launched by al-Nusra. RT.  Al-Nusra reportedly launched 17 missiles from a MRLS at Hmeimim airbase, which is a major Russian airbase in the region. Russian forces claim to have intercepted 9 of the missiles while the rest fell short. The attack came as al-Nusra launched a major attack against Syrian forces. 500 militants armed with 7 tanks, 4 APC's, 30 technicals and at least two vehicle borne IED's. The attack was beaten back by the Syrians leaving 150 terrorists dead and 3 tanks and 24 technicals destroyed. The al-Nusra Front has regularly targeted the Hmeimim airbase with missiles rockets and drones but they have largely failed to damage the airbase.

My Comment:

Western media wasn't covering this story so I was forced to use RT as a source. As always when I cite RT, remember that it's pretty much literal Russian propaganda. That doesn't mean it's unreliable per se but you should realize that they have their own set of biases and problems. 

Hmeinin airbase has come under fairly regular attack and it seems like Russia's Pantsir air defense system is working fairly well. They have defended against rocket, missile and drone attacks coming out from Idlib province, the last major area under the control of the rebels and terrorist groups. 

Russia claims these attacks came from al-Nusra Front, also known as Hayat Tahrir ash-Sham. The group was formally aligned with al-Qadea and is likely the largest terrorist army still in existence now that ISIS has been largely destroyed. US policy is seemingly to ignore the existence of al-Nusra, but they are a major threat. 

This offensive seems like a major failure if the RT article is correct about their numbers. Al-Nusra lost many of their vehicles and a large number of soldiers though it is unclear if they inflicted a similar amount of damage to the Syrian government. 

The article said that there are reports that both sides of the conflict may be prepared to use chemical weapons again. If so, that would not be a good thing for either side. The Syrians would obviously anger the world community if they did so and al-Nusra could gain international attention if they did. 

I do think that the Syrian civil war is in the endgame. Al-Nusra is the last major anti-government militia and they just failed in an attack against the government. The non-terrorist rebels are spent and ISIS is an afterthought. The Syrian government is largely in control and once they finally gain control of Idlib province the war will be over...