HTS-government forces mutual shelling results in casualties in NW Syria
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Militants of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS – formerly al-Nusra Front) and Syrian government forces were killed and injured in mutual shelling between the two sides in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo within the de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria.
A senior military source in the National Front for Liberation told North Press that the government forces targeted villages and towns in the vicinity of Bsakla, Maarat al-Seen, Fatterah, Kafr Oweid, Sfuhen, and Kansafra, using heavy artillery shells and laser-guided Krasnopol shells.
The shelling resulted in the killing of two HTS militants and the injury of a third in Kafr Oweid, south of Idlib. Meanwhile, villages and towns such as Kafr Taal, Kafr Ama, Tadil, and al-Wasata in western Aleppo, and al- Enkawi in western Hama, were subjected to similar shelling.
In the meantime, the HTS targeted government forces’ positions in Kafr Nabl and the village of Dana, south of Idlib, using heavy artillery shells and rockets. The targeting operation resulted in the killing of three soldiers and the injury of others of the government forces.
Since mid-August, northwestern Syria has witnessed a military escalation, the first of its kind between the conflicting parties in the region, resulting in the killing and injuring of dozens from both sides.