I don't know precisely when, but these were all confirmed today, I'm told by their military IDs and tags.

You're very welcome, sir.

You're very welcome, my pleasure.

The Joint Operations Command evolved out of the "Fath al-Mubin Operations Centre", and now comprises 13 factions, some FSA and Turkey backed, some like Ahrar al-Sham, and then of course HTS (Jolani's guys) who are the most powerful. All in, circa 60,000 men.

There's no doubt HTS is the most organised and powerful, but that doesn't mean the others are pushovers. Also, we can't discount Turkey's risk appetite - they'd want stability so refugees can go back to Syria, not more chaos with a weak government.

I'm certain he genuinely hates Al-Qaeda - they had quite a messy falling out (Jolani's men also killed ISIS men and leadership in Idlib with extreme prejudice). But I'm not sure if that means ideological changes or simple personality clashes/differences.

The Joint Operations Command is some 13 factions and approximately 60,000 men. They've mechanised, likely with Turkish support, and their baggage train has, so far, kept pace with them, not to mention the spoils they've taken off Assad's/Iran's men.

Minimally. They're fleeing Lebanon and have no will to fight those they've been oppressing since 2011/12. With Iran doing nothing to bail them out, their morale is utterly destroyed.

I'll write a scholarly study of this battle for academic publication.

This means they infiltrated the city and caused absolute mayhem well in advance of this beautifully planned operation, distracting Assadist forces and sowing fear among their ranks as the main force sealed off the routes and advanced from Idlib.

From footage I'm being sent, they're moving too quickly, too loosely and engaging too tightly to Assad regime formations for their airpower to be making much difference (added to the fact they've been caught off guard). Also, I'm sure they're not counting on Turkey!