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On January 19, around 12 Syrian soldiers were allegedly killed or wounded when militants of al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) raided a position of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) near the town of Urum al-Kubrah in the western countryside of Aleppo.
The militants launched the raid from their positions within the Greater Idlib region, which includes parts from the western Aleppo countryside. Despite the presence of a large Turkish force, HTS is the de-facto ruler of the region.
Photos released by HTS’s official media network, Amjad, showed militants attacking the position amid heavy fog in the early morning. The dead bodies of three soldiers of the SAA can be seen in some of the photos.
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This was the fourth such raid by HTS militants this month. On January 10, the militants raided a position of the SAA near the town of Bsartun in the western countryside of Aleppo. Three militants and soldiers were killed during the attack. The next day, January 11, the militants raided another position near the town of Kawkabeh in the southern Idlib countryside. Seven soldiers were allegedly killed there. Later on January 14, a position near the village of Nahshabba in the northern Lattakia countryside was raided. Three soldiers were killed, back then.
HTS and its allies intensified its attacks in December as Russian efforts to restore ties between Ankara and Damascus began to gain momentum.
Just a day earlier, on January 18, the SAA repelled an attack by al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar al-Tawhid that targeted some of its positions in the southern Idlib countryside. At least 12 militants were killed or wounded in the failed attack.
The recent attacks represent a blatant violation of the ceasefire in Greater Idlib, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than two years ago. So far, the SAA response has been limited to artillery strikes on HTS positions and a single raid that targeted a position of al-Qaeda-affiliated Firqat al-Ghuraba.
