Assassination and targeting operations kill members of opposition groups as Astana 13 begins
North-Press Agency
A large number of armed opposition groups in the eastern countryside of Idlib were killed as a result of an attack by gunmen on lines of contact between the areas controlled by the armed opposition groups and the Syrian government forces.
Where the attack targeted a faction called Soqour al- Sham (Hawks of the Levant Brigades) within the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front (NLF), formed from rebel groups operating in Idlib, Hama, Aleppo and Latakia, as the attack took place in Al-Shara area in eastern countryside of idlib.
The operation which is shrouded in mystery, is unidentified whether it was conducted by elements of the Syrian government forces or armed groups loyal to it, or groups affiliated with the cells of Islamic State , caused the killing of (11) members of the faction and wounded others, because of being shot by light weapons and other silencers.
Furthermore, the attackers have fled, while the number of deaths among the opposition groups’ ranks has risen to at least 16, in the last 24 hours of the mysterious assassination operation and as a result of targeting by government forces, coincided with the holding of a new round of Astana talks In the Kazakh capital of Nursultan (formerly Astana).
The new round will include meetings between the opposition and the Syrian government, in an international and regional presence, as on Thursday, closed, bilateral and multilateral meetings between the parties participating in the talks will be held , prior to the meeting announced on Friday.