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Four civilians were killed in two separate attacks with armed drones that targeted towns in the western Syrian governorates of Hama and Lattakia.
The town of Salhab in the western Hama countryside was bombarded by a drone on June 22 afternoon. The attack claimed the lives of a woman and two children. At least two other civilians were wounded. Material losses were also reported.
On June 23 morning, a similar drone attack targeted al-Qardahah in the northern Lattakia countryside, the hometown of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. An agricultural engineer was killed and his sister was wounded as a result of the bombardment.
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Both attacks were reportedly launched from the northwestern region of Greater Idlib, which is controlled by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The terrorist group was blamed for dozens of drone attacks that targeted government-held areas around the region in the last five years.
In May, a suicide drone attempted to attack the government-held of town of Khan Shikhun in the southern Idlib countryside, where Russian troops are known to be deployed. The drone was shot down by Syrian air defenses over the outskirts of the town before it could reach its designated target. No material losses or casualties were reported.
Back then, retaliatory Russian airstrikes hit positions of HTS in the outskirts of the towns of Fleifel and Sufuhon in the southern Idlib countryside. That was the first wave of Russian airstrikes to hit the region in more than five months.
The two new drone attacks represent a blatant violation of the ceasefire in Greater Idlib, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than three years ago. The response of the Syrian military and its allies will likely be fierce.
It’s worth noting that HTS escalated its attacks recently in what appears to be an attempt to sabotage the ongoing Turkish-Syrian normalization process, which is sponsored by both Russia and Iran. The terrorist group fears that a deal between Ankara and Damascus could lead to a Turkish military withdrawal from Greater Idlib, which would allow the Syrian military to resume ground operations that stopped with the ceasefire.
