A shocking assault perpetrated by rebels in Syria has resulted in the tragic loss of 11 soldiers. The attackers launched a coordinated offensive, employing a sinister strategy of detonating concealed explosive devices within tunnels beneath Syrian Army positions. This harrowing incident unfolded in the southern countryside of Idlib and was reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on a sorrowful Saturday.
Further insight from the observatory reveals that the assailants hail from factions including Ansar al-Tawhid and the Turkestan Islamic Movement. These factions are affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group, as detailed by the Xinhua news agency. The ongoing tension between HTS and the Syrian Army has led to escalating hostilities, characterized by mutual exchange of fire, particularly in northern Syria.
In a retaliatory maneuver, army forces successfully eliminated seven HTS members in the western countryside of Aleppo on Friday, in a bid to restore stability to the region.
Recent days have witnessed a series of confrontations, with Syrian forces thwarting three weaponized drone attacks initiated by HTS in the northwestern provinces of Idlib and Hama, as reported by the state news agency SANA. Concurrently, Russian airstrikes in the Idlib region claimed the lives of eight HTS militants on the same day, highlighting the volatile atmosphere in the area.
HTS, previously known as the Nusra Front with links to al-Qaida, has progressively consolidated control over substantial portions of Idlib, casting a shadow over the region’s stability and security.