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In the afternoon of March 16, radical militants launched a barrage of rockets at the Christen town of al-Suqaylabiyah in the government-held part of the northern Hama countryside.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that a woman was killed and four other civilians, including children, were injured in the attack. Local sources said that the victim, Ayat al-Mahmud, was pregnant.
Few minutes after the attack, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) responded by striking militants’ positions in the city of Jisr al-Shughur in northwestern Idlib. A military source told SouthFront that heavy rockets were used in the strike. However, he declined to provide additional information.
Jisr al-Shughur is infamous for being a stronghold for the al-Qaeda-affiliated Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) and several other terrorist group. The terrorists captured the strategic city from the SAA following a fierce battle in 2015.
The upcoming hours will likely witness more attacks by the SAA, as the militants are clearly planning to escalate the situation around Idlib once again.
