Syrian, Russian forces conduct ‘intensive’ counter assault on extremist groups
The Cradle, November 28, 2024 ─
Nonstop clashes have raged across the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo since extremist factions launched a huge assault on the Syrian army a day ago.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) extremist group and other allied factions continued their massive assault on Syrian-controlled towns and villages in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside in north Syria on 28 November.
The Syrian army and Russian forces have intensified their counteroffensive against extremist groups in Idlib city and surrounding areas, targeting militants who have been waging their attacks in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside since early Wednesday morning.
Syrian troops shelled HTS supply lines in Maaret al-Naaman northeast of Idlib on Thursday. According to Damascus, 40 members of HTS were killed in battle on 27 November.
The Syrian army also said it deployed six Syrian and Russian warplanes to target HTS, formerly known as Al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front, between Saraqib and Aleppo.
“The contact lines are currently witnessing back-and-forth operations between Syrian army soldiers and militants of armed terrorist organizations on several axes in the countryside of the two provinces (Idlib and Aleppo),” Sputnik’s correspondent reported.
He also reported “intensive strikes” by Russian and Syrian warplanes.
The opposition-linked war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said 153 people have been killed since the fighting started early on 27 November – 80 HTS members, 19 members of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) coalition, and 54 Syrian army soldiers. Iranian media reports on Thursday said an advisor in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Kiyomarspour Hashemi, was killed in Aleppo.
According to Al Mayadeen, Ukrainian drones are being used in the extremist assault on Syrian forces.
Several recent reports have revealed that Kiev has been supplying HTS with drones, and have even deployed military specialists to northern Syria to train militants and provide expertise on manufacturing and using drones.
The HTS attack was launched against Syrian army positions in the countryside of Aleppo, Hama, and Idlib during the early morning hours of 27 November.
“Since the early morning hours, fierce battles have been taking place between the Syrian Arab Army and terrorist organizations that have launched the largest attack since 2020,” the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) said in a statement on Wednesday.
HTS is based in the province of Idlib – the last Syrian province under the full control of extremist opposition factions, with the exception of certain pockets in the Aleppo countryside.
Damascus’s forces made their first advancement toward Idlib in 2019 when they captured the town of Habeet in the countryside.
HTS, known as the Nusra Front until 2016, received extensive support from Israel in the first years of the Syrian war.