“The main responsibility for the aggravation of the situation lies with the terrorist group HTS *, the number of which in the Idlib de-escalation zone excluding foreign mercenaries is at least 20 thousand militants,” Borenkov said.
He also said that on January 17, up to 50 militants, with the support of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, attacked the positions of the Syrian army.
After that, the militants retreated to the nearest settlements, but the fighting continued on January 18.
* “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (“Jabhat Fath al-Sham”, “Front al-Nusra”, “Jabhat al-Nusra”) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2014.