BEIRUT: Nine Syrian soldiers and three militant fighters were killed on Friday in a fierce rebel attack on government positions in northwest Syria, according to reports from a war monitor. The latest attack marks the second such attack in the northwest region of the country within a week.
The Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) group, which holds dominance in Syria’s last major rebel stronghold, conducted the attack by “infiltrating a Syrian army position” situated in northern Latakia province, stated Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Additionally, the Observatory reported that another 12 soldiers and two HTS fighters sustained injuries during the assault. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in the United Kingdom, maintains a widespread network of sources within Syria.
HTS currently controls significant portions of northwestern Idlib province, along with sections of the adjacent provinces of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia.
Civil War in Syria
On August 26, an affiliated group of militants carried out an ambush in northwestern Syria, resulting in the deaths of at least 11 soldiers. This ambush involved the detonation of explosives placed in tunnels that had been dug underneath army positions, followed by an attack on the soldiers. The incident occurred in the southern part of Idlib province, as reported by the Observatory at the time.
Since 2020, a cease-fire agreement has generally held in northwest Syria, although sporadic clashes have occurred.
Syria’s civil war began in 2011, when the government’s suppression of peaceful protests escalated into a full-scale conflict. Over the course of the conflict, which erupted in 2011 and rapidly escalated into a deadly and protracted struggle, more than half a million lives have been lost.
