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Units of the Syrian Army eliminated several units of terroirst groups, which attempted to attack army positions in northern Hama, the country’s state-run news agency SANA reported on January 8.
According to the SANA’s reporter in Hama, the army repelled an infiltration attempt from the direction of al-Dawrat valley, the area east of al-Latamina town.
“Scores of terrorists were killed and others were injured while the remnants fled away towards their dens and gatherings to the north,” the SANA wrote.
Separately, army units erportedly shelled terrorists, who tried to infiltrate from the direction of Mourek town, 30 km to the north of Hama city.
“A number of terrorists were killed in the bombardments and others were injured, in addition to destroying their weapons and ammunition,” the SANA wrote on this development.
On January 7, the SANA reported that the army had repelled attacks from the directions of Ma’arkiba and al-Latamina towards a number of military posts and safe areas in northern Hama. The angecy claimed that the army actions had inflicted “heavy losses upon them in the personnel and equipment”.
It should be noted that the Syrian state-run media reports on ceasefire violations by militant groups operating in the Idlib de-escalation zone on a cosntant basis. In turn, the “opposition” accuses the Damascus government of violating the ceasefire.
However, this situation can change in the nearest future in the event of further Hayat Tahrir al-Sham expansion in southern Idlib. If the terorist group consolidates its gains and expands areas under its control across the de-escalation zone, the situation in the demilitarized zone near the province of Idlib will likely deteriorate further. This development will undermine all the previous efforts of Damascus, Russia, Iran and Turkey to de-escalate the situation in this part of the country.
