Dozens killed as armed teams assault Syrian navy in northern Aleppo | Syria’s Conflict Information

Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham fighters are reported to have captured Syrian military weapons depots and brought armoured automobiles throughout assaults.

Dozens of Syrian military troopers and insurgent fighters have been killed in northern Aleppo province the place the Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) armed group and allied forces have overrun at least 10 areas under the management of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s navy, in response to studies.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) stated nearly 100 fighters and troopers have been killed throughout clashes on Wednesday, following an operation launched by HTS, which controls a big space of northwestern Syria.

Activists working with the observatory reported 44 members of HTS killed together with 16 members of allied armed teams.

“Furthermore, 37 members of the [Syrian] regime forces together with at the least 4 officers of various ranks have been killed and 5 members have been captured, whereas weapon depots, armoured automobiles, machinery and heavy weapons have been taken over,” the observatory stated in an announcement.

The monitoring group additionally stated that civilians, together with youngsters, have been killed and injured during the clashes, which noticed Syrian military forces hearth “tons of shells and missiles on civil and navy positions” throughout the combat.

HTS fighters and their allies superior nearly 10km (6 miles) from the outskirts of Aleppo metropolis and some kilometres away from Nubl and Zahra, two predominately Shia cities the place the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has a strong-armed presence, a Syrian military supply advised the Reuters information company.

HTS forces additionally attacked the al-Nayrab airport east of Aleppo, the place where pro-Iranian fighters have outposts.

Reuters information company reported that the offensive was prompted by stepped-up air strikes in current weeks in opposition to civilians by the Russian and Syrian air drive on areas in Syria’s southern Idlib in addition to preempting any assaults by the Syrian military, which was built up troops close to entrance strains with HTS and different teams.

Official state media in Syria didn’t report the combating however pro-government websites stated the military had pounded HTS hideouts and killed dozens.

Witnesses stated tons of households in Aleppo, the final refuge for opponents of al-Assad, fled to safer areas alongside the Turkish border.

HTS, which is listed as a “terrorist organisation” by America, has long been focused on by the Syrian authorities and Russian forces.

Severing ties to the transnational al-Qaeda group, HTS has rebranded itself lately and portrays itself as an extra reasonable group with native goals in Syria. It has changed into probably the most highly effective insurgent group in northwestern Syria.

Russia entered the Syrian civil warfare in 2015 on the facet of President al-Assad as his rule regarded more and more menace from insurgent forces.