Late in the evening on June 27, militants destroyed a pick-up truck of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) near the town of al-Jaradeh in the southern Idlib countryside.
According to opposition sources, the truck, armed with a 23 mm heavy machine gun, was targeted by an anti-tank guided missile. The sources claimed that the crew had been killed in the strike. However, no losses were reported by pro-government forces.
Click to see full-size map. Source: (@Suriyakmaps) on Twitter, Via Google Maps – TerraMetrics
The attack was reportedly carried out by the al-Fateh al-Mubeen Operations Room led by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Following the attack, the SAA artillery struck militants’ positions in various areas of southern Idlib. The shelling was likely a response to the attack.
The day before, HTS banned the formation of any new operations rooms or factions in Greater Idlib, limiting all military activities in the region to the al-Fateh al-Mubeen Operations Room. The step was intendent to reduce the influence of other terrorist groups.
The new attack are a violation of the ceasefire in Greater Idlib that was reached on March 5. The al-Fateh al-Mubeen Operations Room likely carried out the attack in order to attract more radical opposition supporters in the region.
