Details of Syrian-Russian airstrikes on HTS sites revealed: Exclusive
3 Min Read
Al Mayadeen's sources make revelations about the airstrikes conducted jointly by the Russian and Syrian air forces on positions held by the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham terror group.
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Smoke plumes rise over Idlib's countryside after the Russian Air Force bombed sites controlled by terrorists in Idlib's countryside, Syria (Social media)
More than 50 militants were killed and wounded in raids by the Syrian and Russian armies on the positions of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham in the town of Sarja in Jabal al-Zawiya, south of Idlib, sources familiar with the matter told Al Mayadeen on Tuesday.
"The headquarters is affiliated with the Hamza Brigade faction, which is under the leadership of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, and includes fighters trained on suicide operations," the sources said.
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham announced the death of a number of its members in the raids, including prominent cader Rabih Al-Othman, nicknamed "Abu Karmo Morek."
Sources familiar with the matter told Al Mayadeen that there were deaths and injuries among the ranks of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham in air strikes and artillery strikes that targeted one of its largest underground strongholds south of Idlib.
The gunmen's ambulances found it difficult to reach the site as a result of the continuation of the strikes and many gunmen getting trapped under the rubble, noting that the headquarters contained rooms, warehouses, and a garage for vehicles.
اربع غارات جوية لطيران السوري و الروسي استهدف مواقع لهيئة تحرير الشام والجماعات المسلحة في محيط بلدة سرجة جنوب إدلب تزامن مع تحليق لطائرات استطلاع في اجواء ادلب
— رضا الباشا Rida Albasha (@rh_albasha) June 27, 2023
الغارات تزامنت مع قصف مدفعي استهدف نقاط المسلحين على محاور الجبهة في جبل الزاوية و سهل الغاب وريف حلب الغربي pic.twitter.com/vcHDs1Bvox
The Russian air force targeted sites held by armed groups in the northern Idlib countryside, an Al Mayadeen correspondent reported Sunday.
The Russian airstrikes, the reporter said, also targeted the operations room of the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham terrorist group, which it uses alongside its allies, in Ariha, south of Idlib.
The Russian aircraft targeted HTS and Turkistan Islamic Party sites in the northern Latakia countryside and the vicinity of Idlib.
More than 25 air strikes have been recorded in the vicinity of Idlib, all of which targeted sites held by HTS and allied forces, an Al Mayadeen correspondent added.
HTS made a public announcement calling on its members to vacate all headquarters and sites to avert the airstrikes being carried out by the Syrian and Russian air forces.
The Russian Aerospace Forces, together with the artillery of the Syrian army, are inflicting intensive strikes on terrorist positions in the Syrian provinces of Idlib and Latakia. pic.twitter.com/8jugeCw9WA
— Sprinter (@Sprinter99880) June 25, 2023
The bombing of HTS sites comes after the Turkish authorities were reported to have been summoning numerous owners of exchange companies owned by Syrians in several Turkish cities for over a week now, interrogating them about the assets owned by Abu Mohammad Al-Julani, the leader of the HTS terror group, sources told Al Mayadeen.
The sources explained that these companies owned by Al-Julani have branches spread within the occupied Syrian governate of Idlib. It appears that these moves by Turkey come, in part, to pressure Al-Julani into ceasing attacks against Turkish-backed armed groups in northern Aleppo.
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
