Late on January 12, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) carried out a series of artillery and rocket strikes on militants’ positions in the northwestern region of Greater Idlib.
The army fired more than a 100 artillery rounds and heavy rockets at positions of al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the de-facto ruler of HTS, and its allies in the eastern Idlib countryside and the western countryside of Aleppo. The results of the intense strikes are yet to be revealed.
The strikes were most likely a response to recent attacks by HTS and one of its allies, the Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sham Movement.
HTS militants raided a position of the SAA near the town of Bsartun in the western countryside of Aleppo on June 10. Three militants and soldiers were killed during the attack. The next day, January 11, the group’s militants raided another army position near the town of Kawkabeh in the southern Idlib countryside. Seven soldiers were allegedly killed there. On the same day, Ahrar al-Sham militants attacked an unspecified position in the western Aleppo countryside. The group claimed that eight soldiers were killed during the attack.
The recent attacks by HTS and Ahrar al-Sham were a blatant violation of the ceasefire in Greater Idlib, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than two years ago.
The SAA’s intense artillery and rocket strikes were likely just an initial response to the recent attacks. The army and its allies could soon take more serious military measures to deter HTS and Ahrar al-Sham and reinforce the ceasefire in Greater Idlib.
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