Iranian militia sends reinforcements to Idlib amid military tension
IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Iranian-backed Afghan militia, the Liwa Fatemiyoun, sent on Monday military reinforcements to Idlib Governorate, Northwest Syria, after the withdrawal of Hezbollah militias last week.
The reinforcements were sent to the town of Khan Shaykhun and the city of Saraqib in Idlib southern and eastern countryside. This comes amid ongoing military escalation in Northwest Syria.
Military sources told North Press that six buses carrying around 200 militants from the Liwa Fatemiyoun militia arrived in Khan Shaykhun, south of Idlib, and Saraqib, east of Idlib.
The convoy came from the Shaer and Jazl oil fields in the eastern countryside of Homs and included four-wheel-drive military vehicles and trucks carrying logistical supplies.
The sources added that these reinforcements were sent to fill the gap left by the complete withdrawal of Hezbollah militants from Idlib fronts.
Additional Iranian militias are expected to arrive in the area, coinciding with talks of a possible opposition attack toward Aleppo, according to the sources.
Meanwhile, Russian warplanes targeted the Kabina area in the northwestern countryside of Latakia, the sources noted.
The sources also reported that a person, along with two members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, once known as al-Nusra Front), were killed when two suicide drones targeted a military vehicle on the agricultural road to the village of Kafr Nouran, west of Aleppo.
A third suicide drone hit an empty house in the village of Kherbet al-Naqus, north of Hama, the source indicated.
These attacks occurred amid ongoing shelling between Syrian government forces and the HTS in the area. Artillery bombardments were reported in the towns and villages of al-Bara, Majdaliya, and Ihsim in the south of Idlib, along with attacks in Sarmin, Tarnaba, and Taftanaz in eastern Idlib earlier in the morning.
HTS also targeted “Brigade 111” and “Brigade 46” west of Aleppo, though the extent of the casualties among government forces remains unknown. Russian drones continued to fly over the area during the clashes.