Syria fires missiles at terrorist hideouts in Idlib
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) fired missiles at terrorist hideouts in the Al-Ghaab and Idlib regions in response to an attack by extremist gunmen that killed 20 SAA soldiers earlier.
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An attack by the Syrian army. Illustration photo: Sputnik |
Almasdar Newsreported that on the afternoon of November 16 (local time), the SAA launched a large-scale attack on Al-Ghaab, Hama and the "fire bowl" Idlib area. The SAA used surface-to-surface missiles to attack the defense system at the stronghold of the terrorist groups Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham and the Turkistan Islamic Movement.
According to a military source in Latakia, the SAA's widespread missile attack was in response to Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham's attack on the SAA's position in Al-Foro, killing more than 20 soldiers.
According to the source, the terrorist group took advantage of the foggy weather and attacked directly at the SAA positions, causing great human losses. This is the deadliest terrorist attack on the SAA since Russia and Türkiye signed the Sochi ceasefire agreement on September 17.
The SAA has previously vowed to retaliate against the terrorists. The source said that Syria is apparently considering mobilizing more of its air force to carry out airstrikes against Al-Ghaab and Jisr Al-Shughour after the force stopped its attacks on northwestern Syria since the Sochi agreement.
In the Al-Safa area, southern Syria, on November 16, the SAA also began resuming attacks against IS after a short pause due to adverse weather conditions.
The SAA has been pounding IS-held areas in the past week. According to frontline sources, terrorist targets are shaking under the fire of the Syrian army.
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached an agreement to create a demilitarized zone between the SAA and rebels in Syria's Idlib region. The zone is 15-20km wide. According to the agreement signed in Sochi, Russia, all heavy weapons, including tanks and artillery, must be withdrawn from the zone by October 10, and all rebel and terrorist forces must leave the demilitarized zone after their weapons are removed.
News agencyTassAccording to Vladimir Savchenko, an official at the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation, since Moscow and Ankara agreed to adopt the Sochi agreement, 530 violations have occurred, resulting in the deaths of 25 Syrian servicemen in nearly two months. Sixty-seven innocent civilians have also died due to a series of violations of the agreement by opposition forces and terrorists.
Most of Idlib is still held by rebel and terrorist groups, including those linked to al-Qaeda. This is considered the last stronghold of rebels and insurgents in Syria after more than 6 years of fierce civil war.