Government and opposition resume shelling each other in Syria’s northwest
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, the countryside of Idlib and Hama, northwest Syria, witnessed a continuation of mutual shelling between the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions and the government forces, causing material damage to civilian homes.
“The government forces stationed in the city of Kafranbel renewed their artillery and missile shelling on the towns of al-Fatira and al-Bara, in the Zawiya mountain area, south of Idlib,” sources of the opposition factions told North Press.
“The bombing targeted neighborhoods and residential homes, which resulted in the destruction of public and private properties, without casualties reported,” the sources added.
The government bombed the sites of the opposition factions near the towns of al-Enkawi and Qleidin in the Ghab Plain area in the western countryside of Hama countryside, with heavy artillery shells and rocket launchers, according to the same sources.
Responding to the government bombing, the al-Fateh al-Mubin Operations Room, which includes several factions, announced that it had targeted the positions of the government forces in the town of Malajah in the southern countryside of Idlib, with mortars and Grad rockets.
Earlier on Saturday, the Russian warplanes renewed their aerial shelling of areas held by Turkish-backed armed Syrian factions south of Idlib in addition to targeting a training center belonging to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front), while Syrian government forces shelled several villages in Zawiya Mountain.
The de-escalation zone in northwest Syria is subject to a Russian-Turkish ceasefire agreement signed in March 2020; however, the area witnesses frequent mutual bombardment despite the entry of the ceasefire into force.