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On the same day, Russian warplanes launched several air raids on the countryside of Latakia, targeting the Tilal al-Kabineh area in the northern countryside of Latakia without causing any casualties. At the same time, a number of Russian and government reconnaissance planes were hovering over Idlib.
Asked to comment on the incident, Hammam Issa, an Idlib-based journalist, told Al-Monitor, “The Syrian regime forces have launched another round of escalation in the areas under the control of HTS. With Russian air support, regime forces continue to target civilians, as Russian warplanes launched more than 11 raids over the past two days. In response, the Syrian National Army [affiliated with the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA)] and HTS beefed up their military presence in Idlib countryside after Syrian regime forces spread in the area.”
He said, “The contact lines with the Syrian regime forces around Idlib province recently witnessed military reinforcements on the part of the regime forces, the [regime-affiliated] National Defense Forces and the 25th Special Mission Forces Division [an elite formation of the Syrian army], most of which were concentrated in the eastern and southern Idlib countrysides.”
Izzeddine Abu Ahmad, an HTS military commander, told Al-Monitor, “The Russian escalation against the liberated areas is aimed at pressuring Turkey to accept the Russian initiative to normalize relations with the Assad regime and keep the regime afloat.”
Read more: www.al-monitor.com...
HTS is an Islamist group that has been in control of most of Idlib province in northwest Syria, one of the few areas that are outside the control of Syrian government forces.
Designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the group was the main affiliate of al-Qaida in Syria until 2018 when it formally severed ties with the global terror group. Experts, however, say the militant group has maintained its al-Qaida-inspired ideology.
In the takeover of Afrin, at least two other similar Islamist groups were involved with HTS, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Thursday's developments follow three days of clashes between HTS and its allies on the one hand and Turkish-backed groups on the other in the vicinity of Afrin.
I am just waiting for the inevitable occupation of Syria by Turkey.
Russia would defend the Syrian regime