Russian T-90 tanks
The Syrian Army's 4th Mechanized Division has deployed their newly-arrived T-90 advanced Tanks to the Southern Aleppo front for the first time in order to continue their push to the towns of Kafraya and Al-Fou'aa, military sources said Sunday.

The T-90 Tank offers the Syrian army several features their T-55 and T-72 models do not, including a 2A46M 125 smoothbore tank gun; a four-stroke V-12 piston engine; and most importantly, the Kontakt-5 ERA (explosive reactive armor).

Much of the success the ISIL have experienced in Northern Syria has come from their US manufactured anti-tank TOW missile; however, with the Kontakt-5 ERA, the T-90 Tanks should be strong enough to endure the impact from the TOW missile.

The Syrian army, the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Hezbollah fighters have intensified their joint operations against the ISIL terrorists in Aleppo province specially after September 30 when the Russian Air Force launched its massive airstrikes against the militancy in the crisis-hit country.

On Saturday, the Syrian army and the NDF fighters broke through the ISIL militants' defense lines and pushed them back from two more villages Aleppo province.

The pro-government forces' operation was so heavy that did not leave any safe place for the ISIL militants near the villages of al-Faysal and al-Malkiyah.

The ISIL retreated forces from the above mentioned villages and their surrounding areas after leaving behind scores of dead and wounded members.