On August 10, warplanes of the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) and the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out a series of airstrikes on several towns and villages in the southern Idlib countryside and on the town of al-Lataminah in the northern Hama countryside, according to the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) linked news network Iba’a.
Syrian pro-government sources said that the SyAAF and the Russian Aerospace Forces targeted several positions and vehicles of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) and Jaysh al-Izza in these towns and villages.
These airstrikes are likely a response to the failed attack on Hmeimim airbase a day earlier. According to the Ministry of Defense of Russia, Russian forces shot down an armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that attempted to bomb the key airbase.
The de-escalation agreement in northern Syria, which was agreed upon during the Astana talks, allows the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Russian Aerospace Forces to respond to any violation militarily. If these violations continue, the SAA and its allies may opt for launching a ground operation.
