© Sputnik / Iliya Pitalev
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has shelled a base of Turkish-backed militants in the northwestern region of Greater Idlib in response to recent ceasefire violations.
Video footage showing several artillery strikes hitting the base, which is located near the town of al-Bara in the southern Idlib countryside, surfaced on Twitter on June 8. It is unclear however when exactly the strikes took place.
The base reportedly belongs to the Sham Legion, Turkey’s main proxy in Greater Idlib and a close ally of al-Qaeda affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that rules the region.
The artillery strikes were a response to recent violations of the ceasefire in Greater Idlib, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey more than three years ago. HTS and its allies violate the ceasefire on a daily basis by launching direct and indirect fire attacks against SAA positions around the region.
The SAA and its allies stepped up operations against militants in Greater Idlib in recent weeks. On May 26 and 30, two waves of Russian airstrikes hit positions of HTS in the region.
The strikes against the Sham Legion base came as senior Turkish and Syrian diplomats are preparing to meet on the sideline of the upcoming Astana summit to resume normalization talks. A Turkish withdrawal from Greater Idlib remains one of Damascus’s main demands to Ankara.
The Turkish military maintains dozens of positions throughout Greater Idlib. This presence is preventing the SAA and its allies from resuming ground operations against HTS and other terrorist groups in the region.
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