DAMASCUS, Sept 2 (NNN-SANA) – Nine government soldiers were killed yesterday, in an attack carried out by an extremist group, in Syria’s north-western province of Latakia, a war monitor reported.
The attack against military positions in the al-Kurd Mountains, in the countryside of Latakia was carried out by a group affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an ultra-radical group, previously with ties to al-Qaeda, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The UK-based watchdog group said, three of the assailants were killed during the confrontation that ensued.
The latest incident is part of the current escalation between the Syrian army and the HTS in north-western Syria. The Observatory warned yesterday that, any further escalation in the region could threaten the civilian population and cause possible waves of displacement.
On Aug 26, eleven Syrian military personnel were killed, and 20 others were injured, in an attack by the HTS in the country’s north-western province of Idlib.
On Aug 25, seven HTS members were killed by the armed forces, in the western countryside of Aleppo in northern Syria.
Also late last month, Syrian forces intercepted and shot down three weaponised drones, dispatched by the HTS in the north-western provinces of Idlib and Hama.
HTS, previously known as the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, has established control over a large swathe of Idlib.– NNN-SANA
