Syrian Army Shot Down Five Armed Drones Over Western, Northern Aleppo (Photos)

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) had shot down five armed drones that attempted to target its positions in the northern and western countryside of Aleppo, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced on August 3.

In a statement, the ministry said that army units in the northern and western Aleppo countryside responded by targeting the headquarters of “terrorist groups” in nearby areas.

The ministry released photos showing the wreckage of two drones, which were apparently made with off-the-shelf components. Al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the de-facto ruler of the northwestern region of Greater Idlib, builds and operates similar drones. The terrorist group was most likely behind the attack.

In recent months, HTS and its allies in Greater Idlib increased attacks against nearby government-held areas in a violation of a ceasefire that was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than three years ago. Drones were used in many of the recent attacks.

The SAA and the Russian military group in Syria responded with full force to most recent attacks in an attempt to reinforce the ceasefire.

The escalation in Greater Idlib appears to be an attempt to sabotage the Turkish-Syrian normalization process which is sponsored by both Russia and Iran.

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