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Ten soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army were allegedly killed on February 26 when militants of al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the de-facto ruler of the Greater Idlib region, raided a military position in the northern countryside of Lattakia.
The position in question is located on Taurus mountain near the town of Rabia. HTS militants, who were armed with thermal sights, raided the position in the early morning hours. The terrorist group claimed that three 152 mm howitzers were also destroyed along with their ammunition during the raid.
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This was HTS’s largest attack against the SAA since the devastating February 6 Turkish-Syrian earthquake, which left hundreds dead in Greater Idlib and nearby government-held areas.
The SAA responded to the raid a day later, on February 27, with a large-scale rocket strike that targeted the outskirts of Idlib city, a key stronghold of HTS. The target of the strike was likely headquarters, training camps or ammunition depots of the terrorist group.
HTS escalated its attacks against the SAA in December as Russian efforts to restore ties between Ankara and Damascus began to gain momentum.
The terrorist group’s recent attacks, which included a number of rocket and drone strikes, were likely meant to sabotage the Turkish-Syrian normalization process by stirring up tensions in Greater Idlib, where a large force of the Turkish military is deployed.
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