"After losing up to 60,000 soldiers in five years of fighting, the Syrian army has suddenly scored its greatest victory of the war – smashing its way through Jabhat al-Nusra and the other rebel forces around Aleppo and effectively sealing its fate as Russia provided air strike operations outside the city," English journalist Robert Fisk asserted.
In the last 48 hours alone, the SAA is reported to have taken the key town of Ta'ana and the strategic Barlaheen hilltop in the Aleppo province under control, killing and wounding scores of terrorists, as well as destroying militant infrastructure and military hardware elsewhere.
The decisive victory of the Syrian Arab Army in Aleppo could well deal a fatal blow to the terrorist group that is rapidly losing territories it once claimed in Iraq and Syria.
Daesh "must be learning of the extraordinary developments of the past few hours with deep concern. The everlasting Sunni 'Islamic Caliphate' in Syria doesn't look so everlasting anymore," Fisk added.
Many experts believe that militant losses on the Syrian battlefield are the primary reason why the Saudi-backed umbrella opposition group left Geneva, instead of making an effort to find a compromise with Damascus. The new facts on the ground in Syria could also explain why Turkey and Saudi Arabia appear to be on the verge of sending ground troops to the war-torn country.