© Sputnik / Iliya Pitalev
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) had destroyed a howitzer and shot down three armed drones in the northwestern region of Greater Idlib, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced on July 19.
In a statement, the ministry said that the army targeted and destroyed a 122 mm towed howitzer in the southern Idlib countryside. According to the ministry, the howitzer was used by terrorist groups to shell nearby government-held villages and towns.
The army also shot down three armed drones that attempted to attack government-held villages and towns in the western Aleppo countryside, according to the ministry.
Video footage released by the ministry showed the destruction of the howitzer as well as the wreckage of the three downed drones.
Greater Idlib is ruled by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is affiliated with al-Qaeda. The terrorist group and its allies in the region escalated their attacks this year, violating a ceasefire agreement that was brokered by Russia and Turkey back in 2020.
In recent weeks, the SAA and the Russian military group in Syria stepped up strikes on the region in what appears to be an attempt to reinforce the ceasefire.
The escalation in Greater Idlib appears to be an attempt by HTS to sabotage the Turkish-Syrian normalization talks which are sponsored by both Russia and Iran. The terrorist group and its allies fear that an agreement between Ankara and Damascus could lead to a Turkish withdrawal from the region. This would leave the door open for the SAA to resume ground operations there.
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