Russia targets HTS posts in NW Syria causing casualties
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Russian warplanes renewed airstrikes on Tuesday, targeting a site belonging to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS – formerly al-Nusra Front) in the countryside of Idlib Governorate, northwestern Syria, injuring 15 individuals, including HTS militants.
Opposition military sources informed North Press that the Russian warplanes targeted the outskirts of the villages of Batenta and al-Sheikh Bahr, west of Idlib, using three airstrikes with powerful dual-explosive missiles.
The sources added that the airstrikes targeted HTS positions and the vicinity of the Beir al-Tayyib camp near the village of Batenta, resulting in the injury of 15 individuals, including eight militants and seven civilians, including women and children.
On the same day at morning, four individuals, including two children, were injured due to artillery and missile shelling by the Syrian government forces on villages and towns in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo in northwestern Syria.
Although the de-escalation zone in northwest Syria is subject to a Russian-Turkish ceasefire agreement signed in March 2020, the area witnesses frequent mutual bombardment 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.