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
For the second day in a row, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) carried out a series of airstrikes on militants’ positions in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib.
The airstrikes, which took place on July 10 morning, hit a number of targets in the outskirts of the town of Josef in southern Idlib.
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the de-facto ruler of Greater Idlib, maintains a heavy presence in the town and its surroundings.
شن الطيران الحربي الروسي su34 منذ قليل غارتين على محيط بلدة #جوزف بجبل الزاوية
كما شنت المقاتلة الروسية su57 ثلاث غارات جوية بصواريخ خارقة للتحصينات تلةالخضر بجبل الأكراد… pic.twitter.com/tfbxB9U7SU— المرصد أبو أمين 80 (@Najdat567) July 10, 2021
الان غارات من الطيران الحربي الروسي تستهدف اطراف قرية جوزف جنوب ادلب pic.twitter.com/Oo1LEzTTfF
— انس المعراوي (@anasanas84) July 10, 2021
The Russian airstrikes coincided with a series of Syrian artillery strikes, which targeted militants’ positions in southern Idlib, northwestern Hama and northern Lattakia.
A day earlier, Russian warplanes attacked a number of targets in the outskirts of Josef and near the town of Kabani in northern Lattakia. The airstrikes resulted in material losses, according to local sources.
The recent strikes by the VKS and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) were apparently meant to deter HTS and its allies, who violate the ceasefire in Greater Idlib on a daily basis.
Despite sustaining heavy human and material losses as a result of Russian and Syrian strikes, HTS and its allies are not stepping back. The ceasefire in Greater Idlib is barely holding on. The situation in the region may force the SAA and its allies to resume ground operations in the near future.
Where is the diaper rash brigade to defend hts and the turks? Target practice is what the terrorist scum will be good for. They are simply a weapons and tactics testing area for the SAA & allies.
Oh how I wish they resume ground operations. But pation is our weapon.