At least 18 fighters were killed on Monday (August 3) near Idlib in Syria in clashes between pro-regime forces and jihadists, despite a fragile truce in this region of the north-west of the country at war, an NGO reported.
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Sporadic fighting or artillery fire continue to shake the province of Idleb and the adjacent territories, despite a ceasefire adopted in early March for this region which constitutes the last major jihadist and rebel stronghold in Syria. .
At dawn, regime forces stormed jihadist positions in the northern province of Latakia, which adjoins Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported. Jihadist and rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Cham (HTS), the former al-Qaeda branch which dominates the insurgent areas, blocked the assault and “ 12 fighters from the regime's forces or their allies were killed ”and 17 injured, according to the same source. Six jihadists and rebels, including four HTS fighters, also died, she added.
A fragile ceasefire
The jihadists and rebels control nearly half of the province of Idleb, but also parts of the territory in the neighboring regions of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo. The cease-fire - negotiated by Moscow, ally of the regime, and Turkey, sponsor of rebel groups - was adopted after several months of a deadly offensive by the Syrian power, supported by the Russian air force.
The offensive, relaunched in December and accompanied by almost daily airstrikes, has killed at least 500 civilians, according to OSDH, and forced nearly a million displaced people to flee according to the UN. In recent years, Bashar al-Assad's regime, supported by Moscow and Tehran, has succeeded in recapturing more than 70% of Syrian territory.
Triggered in 2011 by the repression of pro-democracy protests, the war in Syria has left more than 380,000 dead and displaced millions of people. The conflict has grown in complexity over the years with the involvement of regional and international powers and jihadist groups.
