Syrian government forces launched a counter-offensive after terrorist group Hayate Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, launched a fresh attack on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Russian warplanes are taking part in it. So far, 23 air strikes have been carried out by Russian forces.
Moscow said on Friday that Russia's air defense forces were carrying out missile and bomb attacks on the weapons and ammunition of illegal armed groups and personnel in support of the Syrian Arab Army.
Colonel Oleg Ignasyuk, deputy head of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, told reporters that at least 200 extremist terrorists have been killed in the past 24 hours. He said that 400 terrorists were killed in the attack by the combined forces of Russia and Syria the day before.
Meanwhile, UK-based monitoring organization Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SHOR) said that 4 people have been killed and 19 injured in the Russian airstrike so far.
On Thursday, HTS reported to Qatar-based television channel Al-Jazeera and Turkey's state news agency Anadolu that its fighters had entered several areas of Aleppo. They claimed that they have taken control of 400 square kilometers of Aleppo and Idlib provinces. At the same time, they demanded the seizure of large quantities of heavy weapons and ammunition from the Syrian military.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government said its military forces had inflicted heavy losses on the extremists and recaptured several areas controlled by the terrorists. In addition, local media reported that the Syrian government has deployed additional troops in Idlib and Aleppo.
A ceasefire agreement between Hayate Tahrir al-Sham and the Syrian government brokered by Russia and Turkey in 2020. Almost four years later, the terrorist group violated that agreement and launched a radical rampage in northern Syria.
SHOR said more than 300 people have been killed so far in the operation by HTS and allied forces that began on Wednesday. More than 20 of them are civilians. The operation is the biggest attack against the Syrian government in years. The rebels entered the city for the first time since they were driven out of Aleppo by government forces in 2016.
