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In the afternoon of February 27, radical militants launched more than 14 rockets at the Mahardah power plant in the northern Hama countryside in a clear violation of the Russian-Turkish demilitarized zone agreement.
Ali Haifa, the director of the power plant, told Sham FM that the rocket attack caused a fire in one of the plant’s sections. However, the firefighters were able to put the fire down right away.
The attack triggered a fierce response by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), who shelled the militants’ positions in the towns of al-Lataminah and Kafr Zita, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). Both towns are controlled by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its close ally, Jaysh al-Izza.
Both radical groups targeted the Mahardah power plant many times in the last five months. This caused heavy material damage in the plant that provides electricity for many areas in northwestern Syria, including ones controlled by the militants.
Despite the clear failure of the demilitarized zone around Idlib, Russia and Turkey are still committed to their agreement for not so clear reasons.
