HTS attacks cause casualties among government forces in NW Syria
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – A military source from an opposition faction affiliated with the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) reported on Tuesday the killing and injury of five soldiers of the Syrian government forces on Monday in attacks launched by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS – formerly al-Nusra Front).
On Monday, four soldiers of the Syrian government forces were killed and others were injured in attacks launched by HTS in northwest Syria.
A military commander in the National Front for Liberation, affiliated with the SNA, said the HTS targeted a military vehicle carrying a 23-caliber machine gun on the areas of Brigade 46 in the west of Aleppo with a guided missile.
He added that the targeting resulted in the destruction of the vehicle and the killing of two soldiers, as well as the injury of three others from the government forces, without any official comment from the latter.
Meanwhile, the government forces escalated their shelling on the villages and towns of Benin, Kafr Oweid, Sfuhen, Kansafra, and Shnan in Zawiya Mountain, south of Idlib. They also targeted Kafr Taal and Kafr Amma in the west of Aleppo, according to the same source.
Furthermore, factions affiliated with al-Fateh al-Mubin Operations Room targeted positions of government forces in the village of al-Malaja and the town of Hazarin, south of Idlib, as well as Brigade 46, west of Aleppo. However, no information was reported regarding the outcome of the mutual shelling between the two sides.
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.