On November 27, the “Wa Harid al-Muminin” operations room said that its fighters had stormed the “biggest operations room” of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the northern Lattakia countryside. According to the operations room’s claims, “many” Syrian soldiers and officers were killed in the operation.
Contrary to these claims, the Ministry of Defense of Syria announced that the army had foiled the attack and killed five militants, some of whom were wearing suicide belts. The ministry released photos of the dead militants confirming its claims.
In response to this violation of the Russian-Turkish deconfliction agreement, the SAA artillery pounded the militants’’ positions in the towns of Kabani and Bidama in the northern Lattakia countryside on November 28. Syrian pro-government sources described the shelling as “intense.”
Wa Harid al-Muminin is a coalition of several al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, which are based in the opposition-held area in northwestern Syria. The operations room was formed in mid-October with an open aim to sabotage the deconfliction agreement.
Earlier this month, militants of Wa Harid al-Muminin carried out a similar attack on a position of the SAA in northern Lattakia and killed more than 18 Syrian soldiers. Back then, local observers warned that such attacks will continue as long as the radical militants can move freely in northwestern Syria.
Photos released by the Syrian MoD show the bodies of the attackers:
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