An Islamist commander retraces his brigade’s march to seize the Syrian city

Abu Obeida, the commander of the Northern Storm Brigade, left his mud-camouflaged Toyota running as he got out to inspect the dirt road running through the no man’s land that separated his rural base north west of Aleppo from a Hezbollah position 200 metres away.

A month ago, this front against the Lebanese group was where the Islamist rebel offensive that changed Syria for ever began. The 25-year-old’s unit was supposed to sweep for landmines and unexploded ordnance among the olive groves in the aftermath of the opposition’s stunning 12-day rout of Bashar al-Assad and his Russian, Iranian and Lebanese allies. It quickly became apparent that, amid many other more pressing tasks, his people hadn’t been thorough enough.