Illustrative image.
On September 9, al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib shelled two camps of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
The militants targeted with rockets Jurin camp in the northwestern countryside of Hama and another camp located near the town of Slanfah in the northern Lattakia countryside.
The two camp were not hit, however. The unguided rockets fired by the militants landed in nearby civilian areas. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a single civilian was lightly wounded as a result of the attack on Jurin.
The rocket attacks were meant as a response to a series of Russian airstrikes and a missile attack by the SAA that targeted positions of HTS in the western part of Greater Idlib a day earlier.
According to the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, one of the targets of the airstrikes was a training camp of HTS near the town of Sheikh Yusuf. More than 120 militants were allegedly killed as a result of the airstrikes.
The escalation in Greater Idlib is a direct result of the provocative behavior of HTS and its allies. The militants tviolated the ceasefire n the region, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than two years ago, on several occasions over the past week.
The rocket attacks on Jurin and Slanfah will likely be met with a fierce response from the SAA and its allies. A new wave of Russian airstrikes could soon hit the region.
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