The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Thursday that the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebel factions launched a surprise attack on the Syrian army in the northern province of Aleppo on Wednesday.
According to the observatory, "the death toll in the last 24 hours stands at 132, including 65 fighters of Hayat Tahrir Am-Sham, 18 of its allies and 49 soldiers in the Syrian army."
2 View gallery
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allies launched a surprise attack on Syria's military
(Photo: Abdulaziz Ketaz / AFP)
The Syrian military said that its forces were responding to the attack launched by the rebels. The Reuters news agency reported that the Syrian Air Force, along with the Russian forces assisting Damascus in the civil war, bombed areas held by the rebels near the border with Turkey.
The battles in the province of Aleppo are taking place near the province of Idlib. According to the monitoring center, which provides regular reports on the war, this is the highest number of casualties in battles in the region in recent years.
The monitoring center reported that in the extensive attack, called "deterring aggression," the rebels took control of 21 villages and sites in the western countryside of Aleppo. In a short time, after clashes with regime forces, the rebels reached a distance of 10 kilometers from the city of Aleppo.
2 View gallery
Fighters in the jihadist rebel organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Aleppo, Syria
(Photo: Abdulaziz Ketaz/ AFP)
A military statement carried by state news agency SANA said that "armed terrorist organizations grouped under so-called 'Nusra terrorist front' present in Aleppo and Idlib provinces launched a large, broad-fronted attack" on Wednesday morning.
It said the attack with "medium and heavy weapons targeted safe villages and towns and our military sites in those areas".
The army "in cooperation with friendly forces" confronted the attack "which is still continuing", inflicting "heavy losses" on the armed groups, the military statement said, without reporting army losses.
The Observatory said that "Russian warplanes intensified air strikes", targeting the vicinity of Sarmin and other areas in Idlib province, alongside "heavy artillery shelling" and rocket fire.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which used to be the Islamist al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria, controls parts of the Idlib province and small areas of the neighboring provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Takiya.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
Syria's civil war broke out after President Bashar al-Assad repressed anti-government protests in 2011, and spiraled into a complex conflict drawing in foreign armies and jihadists.
It has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and battered the country's infrastructure and industry.
The Idlib region is subject to a ceasefire –repeatedly violated but still largely holding -- brokered by Turkey and Damascus ally Russia after a Syrian government offensive in March 2020.