Considerable escalation | HTS kills 81 regime soldiers in “de-escalation zone” in 79 days

The “de-escalation zone,” stretching from the north-eastern mountains of Latakia to the north-western suburbs of Aleppo city running through both Hama and Idlib, has experienced noticeable escalation since early 2023 by Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and opposition factions against regime forces and their proxies. The military escalation is manifested in daily operations led by HTS, including bombardment, gunfire by snipers, infiltration operations and clashes, which inflicts heavy losses among regime forces. These operations are met by frequent bombardment and attacks by regime forces on HTS and rebels, as well as attacks carried out against civilians.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has monitored and tracked all developments in the “de-escalation zone,” documenting 55 operations since early 2023, which left 114 combatants and civilians dead. In addition, these operations left over 60 combatants and 12 civilians, including a woman and other children, injured.

 

The fatalities can be distributed as follows:

 

• Five civilians were killed by regime forces.

 

• 81 members of regime forces, including six officers.

 

• 25 members of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham, including a French jihadist.

 

• Two members of the jihadist faction of “Ansar Al-Tawheed.

 

• One member of “Ahrar Al-Sham” movement.

 

Here is a monthly distribution of military operations in the “de-escalation zone” and casualties which they left:

 

-January

 

SOHR activists documented the death of 58 combatants and civilians and injury of 48 combatants and six civilians, including children in 26 operations. The fatalities are distributed as follows:

 

• Three civilians killed in regime bombardment.

 

• 37 members of regime forces, including four officers.

 

• 16 HTS members, including a French jihadist.

 

• Two members of the jihadist faction of Ansar Al-Tawheed.

 

-February

 

SOHR activists documented the death of 38 combatants and civilians and injury of over three combatants in 16 operations. The fatalities are distributed as follows:

 

• Two civilians were killed in regime bombardment.

 

• 27 members of regime forces, including two officers.

 

• Eight HTS members, including a French jihadist.

 

• A member of Ahrar Al-Sham Islamic Movement.

 

-March

 

SOHR activists documented the death of 18 combatants and injury of over nine others in 13 operations. The fatalities are distributed as follows:

 

• 17 regime soldiers.

 

• An HTS member.

 

This military escalation is considerable compared to the military operations in the same period in 2022, precisely from January 1 to March 21, as SOHR documented then the death of 35 civilians and combatants. A monthly breakdown is as follows:

 

• January 2022: Five fatalities: a little girl and four regime soldiers.

 

• February 2022: 19 fatalities: 13 civilians, including two children and two women, four regime soldiers and two rebels.

 

• March 2022: 11 fatalities: nine regime soldiers and two rebels.