(Zaman Al Wasl)- Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadist group has attacked regime army in the coastal Latakia province overnight, killing at least 8 troops and wounding others, sources told Zaman al-Wasl.
The attack in the mountainous region of Jabal al-Turkman followed the death of 8 regime troops in Hama province, near the planned buffer zone around rebel-held territory in neighboring Idlib.
The attacks were led by fighters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda branch which is the dominant force in Idlib, the Britain-based activist group said.
Clashes have renewed in rebel held areas after calm this week.
Jaish al-Izaa rebel group on Friday thwarted regime’s surprise attack in the northern countryside of Hama.
The regime forces pushed into the stronghold of Jaish al-Izaa near the town of al-Latameh. The overnight clashes left 23 rebels killed, according to Zaman al-Wasl reporter.
Syrian rebels wounded 9 regime army troops in rocket attack on Joureen military camp on Wednesday, local activists said.
Rebels' news accounts said they retaliated to regime artillery shelling.
The de-militarized zone was announced by rebel backer Ankara and Damascus ally Moscow in September to separate government troops from rebel fighters in Idlib and adjacent areas.
Under the deal, the rebels were supposed to have removed all heavy weapons from the buffer zone by Oct. 10 but skirmishes have continued to pit regime forces against militants and other insurgents on the ground.
Rebel factions have said they withdrew their heavy weapons from the zone but HTS and other hardline groups have refused to pull out their fighters.
More than 470,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the conflict erupted with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
Zaman Al Wasl
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