© Sputnik / Iliya Pitalev
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) had carried out a series of strikes against militant positions in the northwestern and central regions, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced on November 9.
In the northwestern region, commonly known as Greater Idlib, the strikes targeted headquarters, depots and fortifications of al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies, including the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), in southern, western and northwestern countryside of Idlib.
The joint artillery and air strikes killed dozens of militants, most of whom were members of HTS and the TIP, the ministry said in a statement, which included the names of at least 15 slain militants.
The SAA and VKS also targeted a cell of ISIS in the central region, killing or wounding all of its members and destroying a pickup vehicle.
The strikes on Greater Idlib were apparently carried out in response to a series of drone attacks that targeted government-held areas in Idlib and Aleppo on November 8. At the time, the Syrian MoD said that more than ten drones were shot down by the SAA.
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Meanwhile, the operations in central Syria came after ISIS terrorists killed at least 34 Syrian troops during a large-scale attack on military positions between Homs and Raqqa, which also took place on November 8.
The Syrian-Russia strikes highlight the abilities of the two allies to confront threats on multiple fronts in Syria at the same time.
