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On August 15, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) artillery shelled militant gatherings in the villages of Sarja and Umm Rajim in the southeastern Idlib countryside, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). Several personnel of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) and Jaysh al-Izza were reportedly killed in the shelling.
The Syrian state run media added that the SAA artillery shelled and destroyed several vehicles and a headquarters of HTS between the villages of al-Tah and al-Tamanah in the southern Idlib countryside. The SANA’s reporter said that the shelling killed “Khalid al-Wazzir,” a field commander of HTS, and several other fighters of the radical group.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the SAA deployed more units in the northern Hama countryside as a part of its ongoing preparations to launch a military operation against the remaining militants there.
The operation, which will supposedly cover parts of the southern Idlib countryside, may begin as early as the next month, according to Syrian pro-government activists.
