Victims of regime and Russian raids in Idlib countryside rise and the opposition moves to attack

The number of victims of the Syrian and Russian regime shelling in the southern countryside of Idlib has risen to 12, while the Syrian armed opposition factions launched an attack on regime positions in the southeastern countryside of Idlib, days after the opposition lost the strategic city of Khan Sheikhoun and the northern countryside of Hama.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Syria reported the death of 12 people and the injury of others in the last 24 hours as a result of raids by the regime's planes and Russia on the towns of Kafr Nebel, Kafr Oweid, Biskla and other areas in the southern countryside of Idlib.

The correspondent added that the regime and Russia intensified their shelling on the areas of Jabal Al-Zawiya, which resulted in a new wave of displacement, pointing out that other raids of the regime's aircraft targeted several towns in the eastern countryside of Idlib and caused great destruction in buildings and property.

The Air Traffic Tracking Observatory, which is affiliated with the opposition on its social media accounts, explained that the Russian airstrikes targeted the villages of Saqla, Maarat Harmah, Kafr Sijnah, Kafr Owaid, Hayish, Sufohen, Ihsam and Tahlif in Idlib countryside, and Kabina village in Lattakia countryside.

Khan Sheikhoun
Since last Wednesday, the regime's army, backed by Russian warplanes and militias, has taken control of Khan Sheikhoun, the largest city in the southern Idlib countryside, and swept the countryside south until it surrounded a Turkish observation post in northern Hama province.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 23 members of the regime forces and 20 opposition gunmen were killed today in clashes east of Khan Sheikhoun after opposition factions launched an attack on regime positions, adding that the opposition's attack on locations lost in Idlib countryside was led by Haras al-Din and Ansar al-Din factions .

The opposition said it launched attacks on regime positions in the southeastern countryside of Idlib and killed a number of its soldiers. The National Liberation Front said in Twitter that the opposition started targeting many points and locations of what it calls "Assad gangs and the militias supporting them."

Media activists pointed out that the opposition factions recovered villages and points in the south-eastern axis of Idlib, and took control of weapons and vehicles held by the regime forces.

Since the end of April, the regime launched a major military campaign against Idlib province and the northern countryside of Hama, the two remaining strongholds of the opposition in Syria, to control them.

Putin and Erdogan
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are holding talks in Moscow today, partly on the latest developments in the Idlib province covered by the de-escalation agreement signed in May 2017.

Reuters quoted a senior Turkish official that President Erdogan will ask his Russian counterpart to take steps to ensure the safety of Turkish soldiers stationed at checkpoints in northern Syria, after the regime forces cordoned off a Turkish checkpoint in the countryside of Hama.