NW Syria endures military escalation, Russian warplanes flight
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – On Thursday, areas in the de-escalation zone in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo, northwest Syria, witnessed persisting mutual shelling between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) and the Syrian government forces amid intensive flight by Russia warplanes that has continued for the second day.
Military sources from the opposition told North Press that the government forces targeted, with heavy artillery and missiles, the opposition sites in Ma`arat al-Sin and Basqala, as well as, the villages and towns of al-Fatterah, Kafr Oweid, Sfuhen, Kansafra, and the outskirts of al-Bara in Zawiya Mountain south of Idlib.
The sources added that the shelling also hit the villages and towns of Kafr Amma, Tuqad, Kafr Taal, the outskirts of Kafr Nouran, the city of Atarib west of Aleppo, causing fires to devour 30 acres of wheat crops near Kafr Nouran.
Other military sources told North Press that the HTS, in return, targeted the government forces’ positions in the Base 46, and the village of Urum al-Sughra west of Aleppo, and the village of Milaja in Zawiya Mountain with artillery and missiles.
The shelling between the parties to the conflict in northwest Syria coincided with intensive flight by Russian warplanes over Idlib, and the countryside of Hama, Aleppo, and Latakia, reaching to areas located on Syrian-Turkish border for the second successive day.
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 between Syrian government forces and opposition factions accompanied by Russian warplanes’ flight 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.