Official media reported that the Syrian army shot down eight drones today, Thursday, over rural Hama and Aleppo in northwestern Syria, resulting in the deaths of three Syrians and injuries to two others. This occurred just hours after opposition groups and rescue workers accused the army of launching deadly attacks on the opposition-held city of Idlib. The army claimed that several villages in rural Hama were attacked by drones launched from Idlib. Opposition sources reported that at least four civilians were killed earlier in Idlib due to missiles fired by the Syrian army.
The Syrian military accused opposition fighters, whom it describes as Islamist extremists, of launching attacks on government-controlled areas in Idlib and Aleppo provinces, denying any indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas in opposition-held regions. Rescue workers and residents stated that the Syrian government has intensified its bombardment of the opposition-held enclave in northwestern Syria over the past three weeks, with support from Russian aircraft. The region is the last opposition stronghold under the control of Turkey-backed armed factions and the extremist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Residents and rescue workers reported that at least five civilians were killed during a Russian strike on Tuesday that targeted a camp for displaced Syrians in the opposition-held town of Saraqib. Opposition sources claim that no less than 60 civilians have died due to the shelling by the Syrian army and its Russian ally on villages and towns controlled by the opposition since the beginning of the month. Thousands have fled the bombardment to safer areas along the border with Turkey. Later, sounds of explosions were heard inside the Conoco gas field base in northern Deir ez-Zor province.
