24 Syrian Soldiers Allegedly Killed Or Wounded In Two Raids By HTS Near Greater Idlib (Photos)

On December 11, militants of al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) attacked several positions of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) around the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.

The militants raided positions near the village of Dadikh in the southern Idlib countryside, and several others around the village of al-Bayda in the northern countryside of Lattakia at around the same time. Heavy clashes broke out on the two fronts during the attacks.

Sources affiliated with HTS said that 24 service members of the SAA were killed or wounded in the attacks. Nevertheless, pro-government news sources reported a single fatality, private Elias Mahmoud Semaan, and photos released by HTS showed a single dead body.

HTS militants blew up two military positions during the attack near Dadikh before withdrawing back to their bases in Greater Idlib.

HTS’s attacks were a blatant violation of the ceasefire in Greater Idlib, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than two years ago.

The terrorist may have launched the attacks to stir tensions between Ankara, who maintains a large force in Greater Idlib, and Damascus following recent reports of a near Russian-sponsored rapprochement between the two.

The attacks on Dadikh and al-Bayda will not likely go unpunished. The SAA and its allies, first and foremost the Russian military, have been responding to ceasefire violations with brute force in order to maintain deterrence against HTS and other terrorist groups in Greater Idlib.

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