2712070 10/04/2015 Russian servicemen attach a Kh-25 high-precision missile to a Su-24 aircraft at the Khmeimim airbase in Syria. Dmitriy Vinogradov/RIA Novosti
Late on June 23, a series of Russian airstrikes targeted the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, which is controlled by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other terrorist groups.
The Russian airstrikes hit the outskirts of the towns of Sharorah in the northern Lattakia countryside and Gassaniah in the western countryside of Idlib.
The airstrikes were apparently carried out in response to three drone attacks that targeted the government-held towns of Salhab and Deir Shamil in the western Hama countryside, and al-Qardahah in the northern Lattakia countryside over the past two days.
HTS was unofficially blamed for the drone attacks, which killed four civilians, including a woman and two children and wounded at least four others.
Citing a Syrian military source, Sputnik said that the Russian airstrikes targeted headquarters and ammunition depots of HTS and its allies, including the Turkistan Islamic Party and the 1st Coastal Division. According to the source, the deadly drone attacks were launched from these positions.
The drone attacks were a blatant violation of the ceasefire in Greater Idlib, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than three years ago.
The Turkish military maintains dozens of positions in Greater Idlib, supposedly to monitor the ceasefire. However, it does not intervene with the operations of HTS and other terrorist groups in the region.
HTS and its allies escalated their attacks recently in what appears to be an attempt to sabotage the Turkish-Syrian normalization talks, which are sponsored by Russia and Iran, and reignite the conflict between Ankara and Damascus. The group fears that the talks could lead to a Turkish withdrawal from Greater Idlib. This would allow the Syrian military to resume ground operations in the region.
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