Unknown gunmen assassinate high-profile HTS terrorist in Syria’s Idlib: SOHR

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says unidentified armed men have a high-ranking member of the Takfiri Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, where the terror outfit holds sway.

The Britain-based war monitoring group reported that the gunmen opened fire on the senior terrorist, who was later identified as Amir al-Shaiti, in front of his house in Salqin town on Saturday morning, killing him instantly.

HTS members quickly blocked roads and erected checkpoints in a bid to locate the attackers; however, there were no reports of arrests.

Shaiti was reportedly an examining judge at Aqrabat prison facility run by HTS.

On August 5, the Syrian army declared in a statement the start of an offensive against foreign-sponsored militants in Idlib after those positioned in the de-escalation zone failed to honor a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey and continued to target civilian neighborhoods.

Terrorist outfits preventing civilians from leaving Syria’s Idlib

Foreign-backed terrorist outfits continue to prevent civilians from leaving via the Abu al-Duhur corridor in the Syrian province of Idlib.

“Even though the Syrian Arab Army declared a ceasefire in the de-escalation zone of Idlib on August 1, armed terrorist groups, backed by Turkey, refused to abide by the ceasefire and launched many attacks on civilians in surrounding areas,” SANA cited a statement released by the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces.

“The Turkish regime’s persistence in allowing its terrorist pawns in Idlib to carry out attacks proves that Ankara is maintaining its destructive approach and is ignoring its commitments as per the Sochi agreement. This has emboldened terrorists to fortify their positions, and led to the spread of the threat of terrorism across the Syrian territory,” the statement added, referring to the Russian city where the truce deal was agreed upon.

Syrian government agrees to Idlib truce if buffer zone created

Syria agrees to a truce deal in the northwestern province of Idlib on condition that a buffer zone is created between government troops and foreign-backed militants.

Under the Sochi agreement, all militants in the demilitarized zone that surrounds Idlib and also parts of the provinces of Aleppo and Hama were supposed to pull out heavy arms by October 17 last year, and Takfiri groups had to withdraw two days earlier.

Russia, Turkey agree to create buffer zone in Syria

The deal was hammered out after lengthy talks between the Russian and Turkish leaders in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The National Front for the Liberation of Syria is the main Turkish-backed militant alliance in Idlib region, but the HTS terrorist group, which is a coalition of different factions of terror outfits largely composed of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, holds a large part of the province and the zone.

The Takfiri Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is said to be in control of some 60 percent of Idlib, has yet to announce its stance on the buffer zone deal.

Syrian govt. forces engage in heavy clashes with Daesh terrorists in Hama

Separately, Syrian internal security forces have engaged in fierce clashes with Takfiri Daesh terrorists in the eastern countryside of the country’s west-central province of Hama.

The Arabic service of Russia's Sputnik news agency reported that the bitter exchange of gunfire broke out when Syrian government troops were heading to the village of al-Oyur, located in Salamiyah district of the province, on Sunday.

Syrian army forces inflict heavy losses on elite

The government forces made the militants suffer losses in the west-central province of Hama.

“When the (government) patrol reached the outskirts of the village, it came under heavy fire from some gunmen stationed on the hills surrounding the area. Violent clashes subsequently took place between the patrol and the gunmen, leaving a number of the gunmen killed and wounded. Four members of the patrol were also wounded in the process,” Sputnik quoted an unnamed field source as saying.

The source added that Syrian army forces and allied fighters from popular defense groups, stationed near the village of Oyur, rushed to the scene of the clashes, and at the same time Syrian internal security forces received air support from Syrian Air Force fighter jets.

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