Militant counterattack leaves 23 dead in Idlib

Militants launched a counterattack against regime forces Tuesday on the edges of their bastion in northwestern Syria, leaving 23 fighters dead on both sides, an activist group said. The militant-dominated Idlib region is nominally protected by a buffer zone deal.

But the regime and its Russian ally have escalated their bombardment of it in recent weeks, seizing several towns on its southern flank.

Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, controls a large part of Idlib province as well as chunks of neighboring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces.

Militants Tuesday launched a counterattack against pro-government positions to the south of the enclave, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The fighting in the town of Kafr Nbouda in the north of Hama province killed 14 militants, along with nine pro-government fighters including five in a car bomb suicide attack, the Britain-based group said.

The regime’s forces took control of the town on May 8, it added.

Regime planes also pounded the northern Hama countryside, while Russian aircraft carried out strikes on the south of Idlib province and the west of Aleppo province, it said.

State news agency SANA said “terrorist groups” – a catch-all term for opposition armed groups – had fired missiles on the west of regime-held Aleppo city, wounding six civilians.

The region, home to an estimated 3 million people including many who fled other parts of Syria as government forces advanced in recent years, has been partly shielded by a truce deal since last year, brokered by Russia and Turkey. Government fire has increased again since HTS took control in January. Much of the recent fighting has hit a buffer zone agreed under that deal.

The army has so far gained three significant areas, the last being the .town of Hweiz Friday after taking Qalaat al-Madiq and the town of Kafr Nbouda.

Two senior Western diplomats say the aim appears to be to take control of the main cities of Maaret al-Numan and Khan Sheikhoun on the main highways in Idlib.

The campaign that began in earnest late last month has also killed dozens, destroyed hundreds of civilian homes, more than a dozen hospitals and food stores, according to opposition-based rescuers and Western aid agencies.

Both Moscow and Damascus deny indiscriminate bombing of civilians and say they seek to crush radical Islamist groups.

Source: Militant counterattack leaves 23 dead in Idlib | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR