Russian raids and government shelling on de-escalation zone in Syria’s Idlib, Turkish points reach 64
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Government forces shelled Turkmen and Zawiya Mountain areas on Saturday in conjunction with Russian air strikes. Meanwhile, the number of Turkish observation posts reached 64 in the de-escalation zone.
Syrian government forces shelled areas in Turkmen Mountain in the Latakia countryside and the villages of Ruwaiha, Deir Sunbul, and Bara in Zawiya Mountain, with artillery on Saturday. This shelling comes despite the deployment of Turkish forces and their increasing number of points in the Zawiya Mountain area.
On Saturday-Sunday at midnight, Russian fighter jets shelled areas in the villages of Bara and Deir Sunbul in Zawiya mountain in the southern countryside of Idlib. The shelling resulted in material damages, without reports on human casualties.
A field source told North Press that Turkish forces established a new base on Saturday in the vicinity of Farkia village in the southern Idlib countryside, bringing the number of Turkish military points in Zawiya Mountain to three, while the number of Turkish observation points in the de-escalation zone rose to 64.
On Friday, armed opposition groups operating in the southern Idlib countryside, northwest of Hama and Latakia countryside, announced the formation of a new military operations room, called “Holdout.”
The new formation included former groups from the Rouse the Believers Operations Room in addition to other jihadist groups, such as the Guardians of Religion Organization, Ansar al-Din Front, Coordination of Jihad, al-Ansar Fighters Brigade, and Ansar al-Islam.
Moreover, the Holdout operations room aims to prevent Syrian government forces from advancing in the Latakia, Idlib, and Hama countrysides.
Since the beginning of June, the de-escalation zone has witnessed an unprecedented increase in military operations, amid the government forces bringing of reinforcements, in addition to Russian aircraft’s repeated shelling on opposition groups' sites, which was stopped since the ceasefire agreement signed between Russia and Turkey early March.