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In the early hours of November 9, more than 22 fighters of Jaysh al-Izza were killed in northern Hama as a result of a series of ambushes and hit and run attacks by the Syrian Special Operations Forces (SSOF), according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). More than 15 fighters were reportedly injured and many others are still missing to this moment.
Syrian opposition activists said that a SSOF unit stormed a high position of Jaysh al-Izza in near the area of the al-Zalaqiat. After killing all the fighters there, the SSOF unit used sniper rifles equipped with suppressors and nigh vision scopes to kill and injure dozens of Jaysh al-Izza fighters in nearby positions.
Hours after the attacks, Jaysh al-Izza, which is a close ally of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), acknowledged in an official statement that 18 of its fighters had been killed. However, pro-government sources said that the group is lying and more names of the killed fighters surfaced on social media.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) confirmed that the SAA had attacked Jaysh al-Izza in al-Zalaqiat and said that the attack was a response to the recent violations of the Russian-Turkish deconfliction agreement.
The situation in northern Hama may witness an escalation in the upcoming few hours as Jaysh al-Izza and its allies has vowed to avenge their dead fighters very soon.
