The Syrian Arab Army launched offensives against the headquarters of the Turkistan Islamic Party and the Brigade of Emigrants in Areeha and Idlib in response to the terror attack launched on the military academy in Syria's Homs.

The Turkistan Islamic Party and the Brigade of Emigrants are the two armed groups that have the technological capabilities to conduct drone attacks, an Al Mayadeen correspondent reported, citing reliable sources.

A drone attack launched on Thursday targeted a military academy in Homs, Syria, during a graduation ceremony for officers, Syrian state media reported.

Reportedly, a loitering munition targeted the ceremony and left numerous martyred, with the toll of casualties ranging in the hundreds.

"Armed terrorist organizations targeted the graduation ceremony for officers of the military academy in Homs", a military statement reported on by the state-owned SANA news agency said.

لقطات حصرية لقصف الجيش العربي السوري مقرات الإرهابيين حيث انطلقت المسيرات#سوريا #syria pic.twitter.com/hKllsBYWpO

— جريدة الوطن (@alwatan_sy) October 5, 2023

Advanced UAV equipment was transported to the two terror groups in question around three months ago, with France having supplied them with the technology, sources told Al Mayadeen.

Syria responds

Drones were detected as having been launched from areas controlled by the Turkistan Islamic Party ahead of the massacre that took place in Homs, whose casualties range in the hundreds.

Syrian journalists reported that the Syrian Armed Forces have been shelling terrorist strongholds since the terror attack took place, with Damascus avenging the martyrs mere hours after the attack took place.

راجمات الصواريخ للجيش العربي السوري عصر أمس تقصف مناطق انتشار إرهابيي النصرة جنوب إدلب. pic.twitter.com/EPYqaAaC6x

— SAM 🇸🇾 (@SAMSyria0) October 5, 2023

Reportedly, there have been dozens of deaths among the terror groups, which include the Turkistan Islamic Party in the western Idlib direction and Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Nusra Front) and the al-Qaeda-allied Ansar al-Tawhid terror groups in the southern Idlib direction.

The Syrian Arab Army has been utilizing mortar shells and surface-to-surface missiles in the attacks aimed at avenging the souls of the martyrs.

قصف مكثف جديد بالمدفعية الثقيلة وراجمات الصواريخ من وحدات الجيش العربي السوري يستهدف تجمعات النصرة في مدينة دارة عزة غربي حلب وسقوط قتلى وجرحى. pic.twitter.com/pHUqkYjN9k

— SAM 🇸🇾 (@SAMSyria0) October 5, 2023

The Syrian Arab Army had pledged to revenge the martyrs and hold accountable those who masterminded and executed the terror attacks.

Hundreds of casualties

The Syrian Arab Army decried earlier the "cowardly... unprecedented" attack and underlined that they would "respond fiercely to all terrorist organizations wherever they are," pledging to hold the perpetrators and the masterminds behind the attack accountable

The statement said there were "a number of deaths, both civilians and military, and dozens of wounded", some critically, including officers and their families.

The number or names of the martyrs and wounded have not yet been revealed. Observers have decried this attack as the first of its kind, as it was carried out using kamikaze drones far from the border.

The initial tally of the casualties caused by the kamikaze drone attack is 80 martyrs, including six women and six children, Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash said Thursday. 240 others were injured as a result.

"Armed terrorist organizations targeted the graduation ceremony for officers of the military academy in Homs," a military statement reported on by the state-owned SANA news agency said.

The attack comes one day after the Syrian Arab Army units targeted the headquarters of armed groups across Idlib's countryside in northern Syria. 

As a result of the heavy artillery targeting the groups, a number were killed and others were wounded. Simultaneously, the Syrian army announced they had shot down two drones belonging to armed groups in northern Aleppo.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday in a statement published via its website that "units of the Syrian army targeted terrorist headquarters in the Idlib countryside, and shot down two drones in the northern countryside of Aleppo."

The ministry's statement added that, as part of the response to the repeated attacks by the armed groups targeting safe villages and towns alongside Syrian Arab Army military posts across Hama and Idlib, "units of the Syrian army carried out concentrated attacks on terrorist headquarters, their fortifications, and their artillery positions."