Dozens dead in attack by armed groups on Syrian military in northern Aleppo | Syria’s war news

Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham fighters have reportedly captured Syrian army weapons depots and taken away armored vehicles in attacks.

Dozens of Syrian army soldiers and rebel fighters have been killed in the northern province of Aleppo, where the armed group Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied forces have overrun at least 10 areas under the control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s military. According to reports.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said nearly 100 fighters and soldiers were killed in clashes on Wednesday after HTS, which controls a large area in northwestern Syria, launched an operation.

Activists working with the Observatory reported 44 HTS members killed, as well as 16 members of allied armed groups.

“In addition, 37 members of the (Syrian) regime forces, including at least four officers of various ranks, were killed and five members were captured, while weapons depots, armored vehicles, machinery and heavy weapons were taken over,” the Observatory said in a statement.

The monitoring group also said civilians, including children, were killed and injured in the clashes, with the Syrian army firing “hundreds of shells and rockets at civilian and military positions” during the fighting.

HTS fighters and their allies advanced nearly 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the outskirts of Aleppo and a few kilometers from Nubl and Zahra, two predominantly Shiite cities where the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has a heavily armed presence, according to reports a Syrian army source told Reuters news agency.

HTS forces also attacked al-Nayrab airport east of Aleppo, where pro-Iranian fighters have outposts.

The Reuters news agency reported that the offensive was triggered by increased airstrikes by the Russian and Syrian air forces against civilians in areas of southern Idlib in Syria in recent weeks, also to forestall any attacks by the Syrian army, which was building up troops nearby from front lines with HTS and other groups.

Official state media in Syria did not report the fighting, but pro-government websites said the army attacked HTS hideouts, killing dozens.

Witnesses said hundreds of families in Aleppo, the last refuge for Assad opponents, had fled to safer areas along the Turkish border.

HTS, designated a “terrorist organization” by the United States, has long been targeted by the Syrian government and Russian forces.

HTS split from the transnational al-Qaeda group and has renamed itself in recent years, presenting itself as a more moderate group with local goals in Syria. It has become the most powerful rebel group in northwest Syria.

Russia entered the Syrian civil war on President al-Assad’s side in 2015 as his rule appeared increasingly threatened by rebels.