ALEPPO, Syria — Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions have recently intensified their bombing of the Syrian government posts on the southern and eastern Idlib fronts, which extend to the areas of Jabal al-Zawiya, Turkmen Mountain, Kurd Mountain and Al-Ghab Plain.

The bombing campaign came in response to the increasing land and air attacks launched by the Syrian government and Russia against several villages and towns in Idlib countryside during the past week. This was coupled with ongoing  government and Russian shelling in the area, with more than 10 air raids targeting the villages and towns of the Jabal al-Zawiya area on the southern fronts July 6.

An FSA military commander told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “A military force affiliated with the Syrian regime carried out a ground attack in the Maarat al-Naasan/Kafr Amma axis, east of Idlib, at dawn July 14. FSA and HTS fighters responded to the attack, inflicting heavy losses among the regime forces during clashes and shelling with heavy machine guns during their [the regime forces’] withdrawal.”

He said, “The regime forces have recently escalated their attacks against villages and towns close to the fighting fronts in Idlib countryside, and the shelling reached the villages of Maarat al-Naasan, al-Bara, Kansafra, Kafr Taal, Baluon, Mashon, Banin, Majdaliya and others. We have responded by bombing the positions of the regime forces with various types of weapons available to us, which are mostly artillery and medium- and short-range missiles.”