Syrian Troops Target Militants In Greater Idlib With Guided Missiles After Deadly Shelling

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) continues to respond to ceasefire violations in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.

On December 27, army troops targeted a gathering of militants in the area of Shanbar in the northern Lattakia countryside with an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). One was killed and another was wounded in the attack.

The next day, December 28, the troops fire another ATGM at a position near the town of Kafr Nouran in the western countryside of Aleppo. Only material losses were reported after the attack.

Both attacks were carried out in response to recent violations of the ceasefire in Greater Idlib, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than two years ago. On December 23, Oleg Yegorov, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Syria, said that three Syrian soldiers had been killed as a result of strikes by militants based in the region.

“Three Syrian soldiers were killed and four more were wounded as a result of artillery and mortar shelling staged by terrorists from the settlement of Kansarfa in the Idlib governorate at the positions of government troops near the settlement of Maaret Muhos,” the Russian officer said in a briefing.

The recent artillery and mortar strikes were likely carried out by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the de-facto ruler of Greater Idlib. The group’s militants have attacked six SAA positions around the region since the start of December in a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.

HTS may have stepped up its attacks on the SAA in response to ongoing Russian efforts to restore ties between Ankara, who maintains a large force in Greater Idlib, and Damascus.

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