Reports from pro-government and opposition sources (some quoting the other) reveal that jihadist-led militias operating in the southwestern countryside of Aleppo province are in the process of conducting a strategic withdrawal from the entire region due to highly-unfavorable conditions on the ground, Al-Masdar News says.

Over the last several hours, reports have surfaced to indicate that militant groups operating in southwest Aleppo province have begun a full-scale withdrawal of their forces from the region.

The rationale of the reported mass retreat is – apparently according to rebel sources – that the military situation on the Al-Hass Front (a reference to their area of operations in southwest Aleppo) has become impossible to justify any further resistance in region.

The main cause – again, reportedly cited from rebel sources on the ground – for the militants’ hopeless situation in southwest Aleppo is due to the fact that Syrian army-led forces have almost entirely encircled them in the region amid major offensive operations throughout Aleppo, Hama and Idlib provinces.