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Militants based in the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib have escalated their drone attacks in a bid to provoke the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies.
The escalation began on late on July 2, when two makeshift armed drones were launched from the region at Russia’s Hmeimim Air Base in the southern countryside of Lattakia. Both drones were intercepted by Russian air defenses. No casualties or material losses were reported as result of the failed attack.
The attack was blamed on al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the de-facto ruler of Greater Idlib. The terrorist group manufactures and operates several type of suicide drones.
On July 21 in an apparent response to the drone attack, warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out on a series of airstrikes the towns of Jdayde and Yacubiyeh, which are located in the western countryside of Idlib. Five people, including suspected members of HTS, were allegedly killed in the airstrikes.
On the same day, HTS and its Turkish-backed allies shelled several government-held towns around Greater Idlib. As a result of the shelling, two civilians were killed and five others were wounded in the towns of al-Suqaylabiyah, al-Baraka, Nobol Elkhatib and Jurin in the northwestern Hama countryside.
The SAA responded on the same day by shelling different parts of Greater Idlib. Two militants of the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar al-Tawhid, a close ally of HTS, were killed as a result of an artillery strike on the town of Fatterah in the southern Idlib countryside.
July 24 witnessed a new escalation. Two makeshift suicide drones, which were launched from Greater Idlib, targeted the opening ceremony of a symbolic church carrying the name of “Hagia Sophia” in the town of al-Suqaylabiyah in the northern countryside Hama.
Only one of the drones exploded upon impact. The drone attack killed a man and wounded at least 12 other people.
The Hagia Sophia church in al-Suqaylabiyah is a miniature replica of the original historic church in the Turkish city of Istanbul, which was converted to a mosque by Ankara in 2020. The attack on the symbolic church was likely carried out by HTS, possibly with indirect support from Turkey.
On July 25, the SAA responded to the deadly drone attack by shelling a position of the Turkish military near the town of Deir Saman in the western Aleppo countryside with rockets. However, no losses were reported.
The recent attacks by HTS and its Turkish-backed allies threaten the ceasefire in Greater Idlib, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than two years ago. The militants’ use of drones could eventually force the SAA and its allies to resume large-scale operations in the region.
