The battle at Qalamoun - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/05/syria-qalamoun-battle-army-hezbollah-isis-militants-qussair.html#
Hezbollah and the Syrian army achieved several significant military goals. They separated Zabadani militants in the south from the Qalamoun militants, and prevented them from having any logistic contact, thus thwarting the possibility of militants assisting IS operations. They also isolated Qalamoun and Zabadani and put each under separate blockades, thus paving the way for smoother and easier battles in each.
Military sources told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the actual moves on the ground indicate that the big battle is imminent and might happen soon, in the second half of May.
The Qalamoun battle has a clear aim: expanding the Syrian army’s and Hezbollah’s control over the Syria-Lebanon border regions while expelling militants and annexing the areas where the Syrian army is present (in the east) to those where Hezbollah is present (west).
Read more: ▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/05/syria-qalamoun-battle-army-hezbollah-isis-militants-qussair.html#ixzz3Zw