Government-HTS mutual shelling leads to human casualties in NW Syria
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, mutual shelling broke out between the Syrian government forces and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS – formerly al-Nusra Front) in northwest Syria, causing casualties.
A military commander in the National Front for Liberation, affiliated with the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), told North Press that the government forces launched attacks on the city of Jisr al-Shughur in the west of Idlib, northwest Syria, from their posts in Jurin camp in the countryside of Hama, central west Syria, which is geographically adjacent to the targeted area in Idlib.
A medical source from the Jisr al-Shughur Hospital told North Press that 10 people, including four children and two pregnant women, were hospitalized. He added some injuries were critical and therefore were transferred to Idlib Hospital.
Meanwhile, the HTS attacked posts of the government forces in the village of Dorien in the east of Latakia, and the town of Shathah in Ghab Plain in the northwest of Hama, killing one soldier of the government forces and wounding three others, according to the military commander.
The government forces responded to the attacks and shelled the villages of Fatterah, Kafr Oweid, Sfuhen, Kansafra, Balyun and al-Bara in Zawiya Mountain in the south of Idlib. No information about human losses were reported.
The de-escalation zone in northwest Syria witnesses mutual bombardment between parties to the conflict. The Syrian government rarely comments on the military developments on the ground.
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.