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An officer of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) told SouthFornt that units of the SAA ambushed a group of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters near Abu Ali Mount in the northern Lattakia countryside on December 30. The officer said that HTS fighters were on their way to attack positions of the SAA when they were ambushed.
As a result of the ambush over twelve fighters of HTS were killed. A Libyan commander “Abu Sufian al-Libi” was among the killed. Several other fighters were also injured.
“Abu Sufian al-Libi”, Click to see the full-size image
Syrian oppositions sources claimed that HTS fighters killed ten soldiers of the SAA during their failed attack in northern Lattakia . However, the SAA officer told SouthFront that only five SAA soldiers were killed and six others were slightly injured during the clashes near Abu Ali Mount.
This is the second attack of HTS against the SAA in northern Lattakia in the last ten days. On December 22, a group of HTS fighters killed three soldiers of the SAA in a hit and run attack around the village of Kabani in northern Lattakia.
These limited attacks are likely aimed at drawing some government forces from the ongoing military operation of the SAA in the southern Idlib countryside.
