Oct. 4 () –
Russian authorities have announced the death of thirteen suspected members of the Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) terrorist group in a series of bombings in the Syrian province of Idlib, located in the northwest of the country.
The deputy director of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, Oleg Yegorov, has indicated that the bombing “has destroyed facilities of the Nusra Front terrorist group in the de-escalation zone in Idlib that posed a security threat to the military of the Russian contingent and forces Syrian Government”.
Thus, it has detailed that among the dead are the “commanders” Abu Yusef al Shami and Khaled al Yusef, alias ‘Abu Omar’, while adding that 22 other suspects have been injured and that several positions of the group have been destroyed, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS.
The Al Nusra Front, a former branch of Al Qaeda in Syria, joined other radical Islamist factions in 2017, creating HTS, led by Abu Mohamed al Golani, who in recent months has appeared in various public events.
HTS is the most relevant armed group in Idlib province, which remains outside the control of the Syrian authorities. Various armed groups also operate in Idlib with the support of Turkey, which has also deployed soldiers in this province.
Russia is one of the main international supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and its military intervention in 2015 allowed government forces to repel rebel advances and regain the initiative on the battlefield.
