This public contraction of their aims coincided with a reduction in the support they received from the Soviet Union and China. Meanwhile, the rebels were steadily cleared from the Jebel Qara and Jebel Samhan by firqats and were driven into the western part of the Jebel Qamar.Nevertheless, the rebels kept the respect of their opponents for their resilience and skill.
In January 1975, in the hastily organised Operation Dharab, the SAF attempted to capture the main rebel logistic base in the Shershitti Caves. A SAF company from a battalion which took a wrong route blundered into an ambush in an adoo “killing ground” above the caves and suffered heavy casualties.
