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Two people were killed on June 10 in separate drone strikes that targeted a motorcycle and a car in the northwestern Syrian governorate of Idlib, according to the country’s civil defense organization.
The motorcycle was first targeted on a highway leading to the town of Saramad in the northern Idlib countryside. A single person was killed in the strike. Later, another strike hit the car in the nearby town of Atme, killing another person and wounding four others, including three bystanders.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the drone strikes, but the United States-led coalition in Syria has carried out past strikes on members of ISIS or al-Qaeda-linked groups in Idlib.
Earlier this year, the U.S. killed several commanders of Hurras al-Din, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, in the governorate. The strikes came despite the group announcing its dissolution on the orders of the country’s Interim Government after the fall of the Assad regime last December.
The strikes came amid an unprecedented rapprochement between Syria and the U.S. Last month, President Donald Trump promised to lift all sanctions on Syria after meeting with Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. This was the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in over 25 years.
One of the conditions set by Washington for the rapprochement with Damascus was reportedly to cooperate on anti-terrorism operations all over the country.
It is highly unlikely that the recent drone strikes were not coordinated with the Interim Government. This will certainly affect the image of Sharaa who draws most of his support from Islamists based in Idlib. Still, it appears that there is no other way forward for the emerging regional leader.
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