Russian air force destroys HTS drone factory in Syria’s Idlib.
Russian warplanes on 26 May launched four pre-emptive raids in the countryside of Idlib in northwest Syria targeting positions of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) extremist group, including a drone-manufacturing facility.
According to Russian news outlet Sputnik, the Kremlin received intelligence showing that the extremist armed group was planning to use “modified drones” to attack Syrian army positions and areas under the control of Damascus.
At least eight casualties were reported due to the airstrikes. The HTS militants suffered further losses when trying to retrieve the remaining logistical equipment at the hands of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
HTS, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra) and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, is a hardline opposition umbrella group that aims to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and establish an Islamic Emirate in Syria.
The Salafist militia is the predominant group in control of northwest Syria. Other armed groups are also active in the region, with varying degrees of Turkish support.
Russia’s airstrikes on the extremists’ positions coincide with an ongoing crackdown against “foreign jihadists” in what analysts call a “bid to quash dissent and consolidate the group’s domination in the last rebel-held pocket of Syria.”
Protests have also recently erupted in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo, demanding the release of detainees and the overthrow of HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The UK-based watchdog goes on to say that the HTS is “still executing arrests against civilians and combatants for different reasons,” mainly for belonging to the rival group Hizb al-Tahrir. This Islamist organization seeks the return of the caliphate.
Following a devastating earthquake that hit Syria and Turkiye in February, UN officials accused HTS of refusing to allow humanitarian aid delivered from Damascus to enter northwest Syria.
Last year, Arabic media reports revealed that HTS leaders had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Turkiye by seizing humanitarian aid shipments before later selling them on the black market.
Source: The Cradle
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