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The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) had shot down drones and launched strikes against militants in the Greater Idlib region, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced on October 7.
A total of seven suicide drones were shot down by air defenses over Aleppo city as well as the countryside of Hama and Idlib, the ministry said in a statement released in the early evening, adding that the drones were launched by “terrorist groups” to terrorize civilians and target infrastructure.
The ministry shared photos of the downed drones, which were most likely launched by al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies.
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In a separate statement released later in the evening, the ministry announced that the SAA had carried out a series of air and artillery strikes against Greater Idlib in response to recent attacks by “terrorist groups” based there.
The strikes hit headquarters and training camps in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo, killing or wounding dozens of militants, according to the ministry.
The SAA and the Russian Aerospace Forces resumed strikes on Greater Idlib following a drone attack that targeted the annual graduation ceremony at the Syrian Military Academy near the central city of Homs on October 5. The attack claimed the lives of 89 civilians and service members and left more than 277 other wounded.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the drone attack. However, current evidence indicates that HTS or one of its allies was responsible.
The militants escalated again on October 7 by firing rockets at the countryside of Lattakia and Aleppo, killing two civilians and wounding more than two dozen others.
The current escalation in Greater Idlib could eventually lead to the collapse of the ceasefire that was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than three years ago. In that case, the SAA and its allies may launch a large-scale ground operation in the region.