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July 9th, 2023 
Awake Goy 
Recent weeks have seen in increase in fighting between the Syrian army and Turkish-backed extremist groups occupying areas within the Latakia and Idlib countrysides, despite a three year old ceasefire
The Syrian Defense Ministry reported that a unit of the Syrian army confronted armed militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who were attempting to infiltrate a military checkpoint in the northern countryside of Latakia, Syrian state media SANA reported on 7 July.
The ministry said in a statement: “A unit of our armed forces confronted a terrorist group that tried to infiltrate at dawn today into one of our military points operating on the Kabanah axis in the northern countryside of Latakia, which led to the killing and wounding of a number of terrorists, including their leader, codenamed Abu Rawaha.”
Abu Rawaha Muhambel is a field commander of HTS’ Uthman ibn Affan Brigade.
In 2019, the Syrian army clashed with HTS for several days at the Kabanah axis while attempting to liberate the area from the extremist group’s control.
According to HTS sources, more than 20 members of the Syrian army and its allies were killed and wounded as a result.
Recent weeks have seen an increase in attacks by militants from HTS, formerly known as the Al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front, on government-held areas in the Latakia and Idlib countryside.
Despite a formal Russian-brokered ceasefire that has been in place since 2020, HTS militants have used rockets, drones, and sniper bullets, causing the death and injury of civilians and material damage to property.
The Syrian and Russian air forces have responded with airstrikes targeting HTS bases, as well as bases belonging to the Turkestani Islamic Party (TIP), whose fighters traveled to Syria to topple the Syrian government as part of the US-led war on Syria that began in 2011.
Militants from the TIP, a group that originated in Xinjiang province of eastern China, assisted HTS in the 2015 conquest of Idlib. TIP fighters and their families immediately occupied the homes of Christians ethnically cleansed from Idlib following the conquest.
While the Syrian army fights HTS, the Syrian government has sought to convince Turkiye to end support for the group, as well as to end support for the Syrian National Army (SNA), another Turkish proxy that occupies areas near the Turkish border north and east of the city of Aleppo.
Earlier this year, Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began efforts to normalize relations with the Syrian government through Russian-sponsored talks, but Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has insisted that Turkiye withdraw its soldiers and proxies from Syrian territory before any reconciliation deal can be struck.
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Filed under: Bashar Al-Assad, China, Syria, Turkey | Tagged: Erdogan, Global war on Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, Latakia, SAA, Turkish-backed (SNA), Xi Jinping |
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