Government forces shell HTS-held area in Syria’s Idlib
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Syrian government forces shelled on Friday morning the town of Sarmin in the east of Idlib in northwest Syria that is held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) wounding three people, including a woman.
A local source told North Press that the shelling resulted in the injury of three people including a woman. The government forces shelled the town from their posts in the city of Saraqib, east of Idlib.
Areas in Idlib southern countryside including the towns of al-Bara, Majdaliya, and Qastoun were also shelled by the government forces.
The source added that the HTS responded to the shelling and fired shells at the posts of the government forces in the southern countryside of Idlib.
The HTS, founded in 2017, controls Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo, using the Salvation Government as a political and administrative umbrella since.
Northwest Syria witnesses an escalation of military operations and intense mutual shelling, with Russian warplanes participating in dozens of airstrikes that claim the lives of people.
Northwest Syria is included within the de-escalation zone that is subject to a Russian-Turkish ceasefire agreement signed in March 2020, however, the area witnesses frequent mutual bombardment between the government forces and Russian fighter jets on one hand, and the HTS militants and the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, known as the Syrian National Army (SNA) on the other, despite the entry of the ceasefire into force.
In March 2020, Russia and Turkey reached an agreement in Moscow that stipulated a ceasefire, the establishment of a safe corridor, and the conduct of joint patrols on the M4/Aleppo-Latakia Highway.