The Syrian army has shelled positions of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist organization in the vicinity of the villages of Cairo and al-Ankawi, west of Hama, an Al Mayadeen correspondent reported on Friday.

A Russian airstrike struck an HTS convoy as it was leaving the city of Idlib and heading toward the central prison.

Moreover, a missile strike by the Syrian army on terrorist positions in Idlib resulted in casualties among HTS terrorists near al-Siyasiya Roundabout in the center of Idlib City.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham evacuated its positions in the security zone and closed the headquarters of the so-called "Rescue Government" in the provincial building after the evacuation was completed.

HTS ambulances transported the wounded terrorists to field hospitals in Ibn Sina and al-Majd, Idlib.

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.

The terrorist attack prompted retaliation from the Syrian Arab Army, wherein armed forces 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.

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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.

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.

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.