BEIRUT: Nearly 100 combatants were killed on Friday in clashes between fighters loyal to Syria’s government, rebels and Jihadists in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said.

Starting at dawn on Friday morning -- and after bombing by the regime -- fighting in northern Hama province killed 51 government loyalists and allied militiamen, and 45 among the rebels and Jihadists, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The clashes continued in the afternoon, the Britain-based Observatory said. Backed by its ally Moscow, Damascus has since late April intensified bombardment of much of Idlib province and the parts of neighbouring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia where Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) holds sway.

Fighting has meanwhile taken place on the ground in parts of these anti-regime areas, particularly in northern Hama. Syria’s official Sana news agency also reported bombardment on Friday.

"Units of the army today carried out massive bombing at dawn.... on positions of the terrorist Al-Nusra Front in (and) around the villages of Jibine and Tal Maleh," Sana said, referring to positions held by HTS.

The bombardment led to "the destruction of the terrorists’ fortifications and their lines of defence", it added. They took place in response to attacks against the villages and cities in Hama, the news agency said.

Idlib and parts of neighbouring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces were supposed to be protected by a buffer zone under an September agreement between Russia and Turkey. But the region has come under increased bombardment by the regime and its Russian ally since HTS seized most of Idlib at the start of the year.

The Turkish defence ministry said on Friday a Turkish soldier was killed and three others were wounded the day before by fire from Syrian government forces against a Turkish observation post in Idlib province. </s> Smoke and fire rise following reported Syrian government forces' bombardment on the town of Khan Sheikhun in the southern countryside of Idlib province, on June 6, 2019

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Beirut (AFP)

Nearly 100 combatants were killed on Friday in clashes between fighters loyal to Syria's government, rebels and jihadists in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said.

Starting at dawn on Friday morning -- and after bombing by the regime -- fighting in northern Hama province killed 51 government loyalists and allied militiamen, and 45 among the rebels and jihadists, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The clashes continued in the afternoon, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Backed by its ally Moscow, Damascus has since late April intensified bombardment of much of Idlib province and the parts of neighbouring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia where Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) holds sway.

Fighting has meanwhile taken place on the ground in parts of these anti-regime areas, particularly in northern Hama.

Syria's official SANA news agency also reported bombardment on Friday.

"Units of the army today carried out massive bombing at dawn.... on positions of the terrorist Al-Nusra Front in (and) around the villages of Jibine and Tal Maleh," SANA said, referring to positions held by HTS.

The bombardment led to "the destruction of the terrorists' fortifications and their lines of defence", it added.

They took place in response to attacks against the villages and cities in Hama, the news agency said.

Idlib and parts of neighbouring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces were supposed to be protected by a buffer zone under an September agreement between Russia and Turkey.

But the region has come under increased bombardment by the regime and its Russian ally since HTS seized most of Idlib at the start of the year.

The Turkish defence ministry said Friday a Turkish soldier was killed and three others were wounded the day before by fire from Syrian government forces against a Turkish observation post in Idlib province.

Since late April, air strikes have killed 490 civilians, according to the Observatory, while fighting has killed 682 pro-regime forces and 821 rebels and jihadists.

The flare-up has also displaced 330,000 others, according to the United Nations, sparking fears of one of the worst humanitarian disasters in Syria's eight-year war.

The conflict in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

? 2019 AFP </s> Nearly 70 fighters from two formerly allied jihadist groups have been killed during infighting over the past 24 hours in northern Syria, a monitor said on Tuesday.

The clashes between former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham and the hardline jihadist Jund al-Aqsa faction erupted on Monday morning, after tensions over influence in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The fighting reflects the growing strained relations between different factions in Idlib province that once fought alongside either other against President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes erupted after Jund al-Aqsa carried out a suicide bomb attack against a Fateh al-Sham headquarters in Idlib, killing nine people.

The toll has now risen to 69 dead from both sides in heavy clashes as well as executions, with the fighting spreading to the neighbouring province of Hama.

"There are battles between warlords, it's a war for influence," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Jund al-Aqsa is reviled by most rebels in the region, and is designed a "terrorist group" by Washington.

Despite that, in October Fateh al-Sham announced it had taken Jund al-Aqsa under its wing, although clashes between the two groups erupted shortly afterwards.

In January, Fateh al-Sham also battled other rebel groups in Idlib during 10 days of clashes that killed dozens of fighters.

Idlib province is held almost entirely by opposition factions, and was captured by an alliance of fighters dubbed the Army of Conquest, led by Fateh al-Sham.

More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests.

The war has become a complex multi-front conflict, drawing in jihadist groups and international armies. </s> BEIRUT: Attacks by two jihadist groups killed at least 17 Syrian government troops and militiamen in the northern province of Aleppo early on Saturday, a war monitor said.

Thirty others were wounded in the assaults by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and its ally Hurras al-Deen, which remains affiliated to the global jihadist network, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The attacks in the southern and southwestern countryside of Aleppo province were launched shortly after midnight and triggered clashes that continued until dawn, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

He said the fighting subsided after Russian aircraft struck jihadist positions in the area, prompting the fighters to pull back.

Eight jihadists were killed, he added.

Russia aircraft also carried out strikes in neighbouring Hama province early on Saturday, killing five civilians, the Observatory said.

On Friday, Russian strikes killed 10 civilians in Idlib province, the hub of territory held by the jihadists of HTS in northwestern Syria.

Russia and rebel-backer Turkey in September inked a buffer zone deal to avert a massive government offensive on the Idlib region, but the deal has never been implemented.

The region of some three million people has come under increasing bombardment since HTS took full control of it in January.

The latest Russian air raids came after two days of talks on the Syrian conflict between Turkey, Russia and fellow government backer Iran in Kazakhstan earlier this week.

The three governments expressed concern over the growing power of HTS in Idlib and parts of adjacent provinces, and determination to cooperate to eliminate the jihadist group.

The civil war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it began with the bloody repression of anti-government protests in 2011. </s> Syria's war has killed just over 320,000 people since it erupted six years ago, a monitor said Monday, noting that a fragile ceasefire had helped to slow the rising death toll.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had recorded the deaths of 321,358 people since the conflict broke out in March 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

The toll represented an increase of about 9,000 since December, when government ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey brokered a nationwide cessation of hostilities.

"There have been fewer people dying in the three months since the ceasefire was put into place," said Observatory Rami Abdel Rahman.

"The deaths haven't stopped, but they have been slower in the past few months," he said.

The new toll included more than 96,000 civilians, among them over 17,400 children and nearly 11,000 women.

The Observatory said just over 60,900 government soldiers were killed, as well as 45,000 Syrian militiamen and over 8,000 foreign fighters loyal to Assad's government.

Fighting also killed nearly 55,000 rebels and just as many jihadist fighters, most of them from the Islamic State group or former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, but also from smaller groups.

Abdel Rahman told AFP that his team had worked hard to verify the identities of 4,000 victims whose identities had been unknown.

"Most were civilians, but there were approximately 300 rebel fighters among them," he said.

While Syria's conflict began with anti-Assad demonstrations, a violent crackdown by the government morphed it into a war that has drawn in international powers and seen the rise of jihadist groups. </s> BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State militants killed more than 200 people in a coordinated assault on a government-held area of southwestern Syria on Wednesday, local officials and a war monitor said, in the group’s deadliest attack in the country for years.

Jihadist fighters stormed several villages and staged suicide blasts in the provincial capital Sweida, near one of the few remote pockets still held by Islamic State after it was driven from most of its territory last year.

The head of the Sweida provincial health authority told the pro-Damascus Sham FM that 215 people were killed and 180 injured in the attack, as well as 75 Islamic State fighters.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the attackers had killed more than 200 people including many civilians. Islamic State said in an earlier statement that it had killed more than 100 people in the attacks.

The jihadists launched simultaneous attacks on several villages northeast of Sweida city, where they clashed with government forces, state media and the Observatory said.

In the city itself, at least two attackers blew themselves up, one near a marketplace and the second in another district, state television said. State news agency SANA said two other militants were killed before they could detonate their bombs.

The Observatory said jihadists seized hostages from the villages they had attacked.

Photographs distributed on social media, which Reuters could not independently verify but which the Observatory said were genuine, purported to show the bodies of Islamic State fighters hanged from street signs by angry residents.

Sweida Governor Amer al-Eshi said authorities also arrested another attacker. “The city of Sweida is secure and calm now,” he told state-run Ikhbariyah TV.

Islamic State lost nearly all the territory it once held in Syria last year in separate offensives by the Russian-backed army and a U.S.-backed militia alliance.

Since then, President Bashar al-Assad has gone on to crush the last remaining rebel enclaves near the cities of Damascus and Homs and swept rebels from the southwest.

After losing its strongholds in eastern Syria last year, Islamic State launched insurgency operations from pockets of territory in desert areas.

The Observatory said government forces had forced the jihadists from all the villages they had stormed from their pocket northeast of the city.

Government troops and allied forces hold all of Sweida province except for that enclave.

Remains of a suicide bomb are seen in Sweida, Syria July 25, 2018. Sana/Handout via REUTERS

The air force pounded militant hideouts northeast of the city after soldiers thwarted an attempt by Islamic State fighters to infiltrate Douma, Tima and al-Matouna villages, state media said.

With the help of Russian air power, the Syrian army has been hitting Islamic State in a separate pocket further west, near the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Yarmouk Basin in southwest Syria remains in jihadist hands, after an army offensive defeated rebel factions in other parts of the southwest. The operation has focused on Deraa and Quneitra provinces. </s> Around 100 soldiers lost their life in North-west Syria in the fight between the pro-Syrian government army and rebels. This was revelaed by the monitoring agency. The England based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the fighting in the northern Hama province has killed 51 pro-government soldiers and 45 rebels.

The Syrian government which is supported by Russia has intensified the attack and air strikes against the rebels and jihadists fighting against the Bashar Al Assad’s regime. The Syrian government has intensified its attacks in Idlib province and the parts of neighbouring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia where Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

According to the Observatory, since April of this year around 490 civilians were killed in the air strikes. Apart from thisaround 682 pro-government forces and 812 rebellions killed in the fighting. The civil war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011. </s> Turkish-backed Syrian rebels patrol through the town of al-Bab shortly after they captured it from the Islamic State (IS) group (AFP Photo/Nazeer al-Khatib)

Al-Bab (Syria) (AFP) - An Islamic State group suicide bomber killed 51 people outside Syria's Al-Bab on Friday, in a major blow just hours after rebels seized the town from the jihadists.

In a statement distributed online, the group said its suicide bomber "drove his car bomb into the middle of a gathering of Turkish soldiers and apostates working in Susian".

At least 51 people were killed in the blast, most of them civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The monitoring group said the car bomb had targeted twin command posts at a rebel base in Susian, about eight kilometres (five miles) from Al-Bab.

Rebel field commander Abu Jaafar told AFP that fighters, Turkish soldiers, and civilians had gathered at Susian for an overnight meeting "to organise a security apparatus and set a plan for rebuilding Al-Bab".

"This information reached the (IS) sleeper cells, which prepared a car bomb" that detonated at Susian at around 0800 am (0600 GMT), he told AFP.

Abu Jaafar, who was near Susian at the time of the attack, said hospitals in the area were full of wounded.

"(IS leader Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi's dogs could not bear their huge loss, and their suicide bombers have begun to take revenge," he said.

Separately, two Turkish soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Al-Bab on Friday as they were carrying out road checks, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

The strategic town, just 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of the Turkish border, was the jihadists' last stronghold in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.

An AFP correspondent inside Al-Bab said stray cats were on the bombed-out streets Friday, sniffing at the bodies of alleged IS fighters.

Doors of shops in the town's main marketplace had been blown open by bomb blasts, and boxes of food and medicine were scattered on the ground.

A rebel scrawled the name of his battalion -- "Mutasem Brigades" -- on a wall.

In the town's south, rescuers and bulldozers were pulling bodies from under the rubble, careful not to detonate any mines left behind by IS.

Turkey sent troops into Syria last August in an operation it said targeted not only IS but also US-backed Kurdish fighters whom it regards as terrorists.

With its support, the rebels launched an offensive to take Al-Bab last year.

It has proved the bloodiest battle of Ankara's campaign accounting for most of the 71 Turkish losses so far.

On Friday the Turkish army said in a statement that "control of all neighbourhoods in Al-Bab have been secured" by opposition fighters supported by Ankara.

The town was also seen as a prize by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, who had advanced to just 1.5 kilometres (one mile) from its outskirts in recent weeks.

The battle against IS around Al-Bab is just one front line in Aleppo province.

West of the second city, where government forces took full control in December, fighting flared with rebels in its western suburbs even as peace talks got under way in Geneva.

Exchanges of rocket and artillery fire first broke out on Wednesday, centred on the rebel-held district of Rashideen, the Observatory said.

The government responded with intensive air strikes on Thursday that killed at least 32 rebels.

A fragile ceasefire between government forces and non-jihadist rebels has been in force since late December, brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey.

It has led to a sharp reduction in fighting in many areas.

But parts of the country which are held by IS or its jihadist rival, former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, are not covered by the truce.

The talks in Geneva between government and opposition representatives formally opened on Thursday.

They are the fourth round of UN-brokered negotiations, aimed at ending a conflict that has dragged on for nearly six years and claimed more than 310,000 lives.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said: "I'm not expecting miracles," but warned of dire consequences if the talks "fail again". </s> Syrian opposition fighters downed a Russian warplane near the town of Maaret al-Numan in the northwestern province of Idlib on Saturday, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Rebel factions shot down a Sukhoi 25. The Russian pilot came down in a parachute, before being captured," said Rami Abdurrahman, who runs the monitoring group.

Read more: UN warns of humanitarian disaster, displacement in northwest Syria

However, it later emerged that the Russian pilot had been killed by rebel fighters after he resisted capture by opening fire with his pistol. "The pilot was killed as he fought Islamist rebels who had shot down his plane and were taking him captive," Abdurrahman said.

The militant Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group said it shot down the plane, but did not mention the pilot. The group is dominated by al-Qaida's former affiliate in Syria.

The HTS statement said the attack was in retaliation for a bombing campaign by Russian jets over Idlib.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? War with no end Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? The dictator Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? The northern watchman Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. The Turkish military has intervened alongside rebels in northern Aleppo, Afrin and Idlib province.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? The eastern guardian The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? The western allies A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? The rebels The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? The resistance Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? The new jihadists "Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? The old jihadists IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.

Who's fighting in the Syria conflict? The Persian shadow Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country. Author: Elizabeth Schumacher, Alexander Pearson



Moscow also confirmed that the pilot had been killed. "A Russian Su-25 aircraft crashed during a flight over the Idlib de-escalation zone. The pilot had enough time to announce he had ejected into the zone, under the control of al-Nusra Front fighters," Russia's Defense Ministry said. "The pilot was killed in fighting against terrorists."

A video making the rounds on social media showed a dead man with a bloodied face, with bearded gunmen gathered around him. One of the men can be heard shouting "He is Russian." The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified.

Last IS bastion

The incident comes as Syrian government forces, backed by Russian air support and Iranian arms, have intensified their offensive into Idlib. The province is one of the last rebel-held bastions in Syria. It is also host to several Islamist groups affiliated with al-Qaida.

"There have been dozens of Russian airstrikes in the area over the past 24 hours," said Abdurrahman. "This plane was also carrying out raids there."

The Syrian regime launched its offensive against Idlib from the south and east in December.

Last month, the Syrian army retook the strategic Abu Dhuhur airbase from insurgents in Idlib.

According to Jan Egeland, who heads the UN's task force on humanitarian aid for Syria, almost a quarter of a million people have been displaced into or from Idlib since the latest onslaught began less than two months ago.

US investigating reports of sarin gas attacks

The escalating violence in Idlib comes as the United States launches an investigation into reports the Syrian government recently used sarin gas to attack opposition forces.

"We have other reports from the battlefield from people who claim it's been used," US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said Friday, although he admitted the US had no proof to back the claims.

"We're looking for evidence of it, since clearly we are dealing with the Assad regime that has used denial and deceit to hide their outlaw actions," he added.

In April, more than 80 people died in a sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib.

That prompted the US to launch airstrikes on a Syrian government military base, although Syria President Bashar Assad has denied the sarin strike was carried out by his troops.

Watch video 01:57 Share #MessageBackHome: We want to return and rebuild Syria Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2rJTR #MessageBackHome: We want to return and rebuild Syria

dm/cmk (dpa, AFP)
Nearly 100 people are killed in clashes between the Syrian Army, rebels and jihadists in northwestern Syria. 51 government troops and allied militiamen, and 45 rebel fighters and jihadists are among the dead.