...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS, formerly al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
Front) were killed and five others were maimed on Friday after the Syrian government forces shelled their vehicle in Aleppo western countryside in northwest Syria.
The government forces targeted the vehicle with a missile in the vicinity of the village of Kafr Taal, west of Aleppo, killing four members of the HTS and wounding five others, a military source from the HTS told North Press.
In response, the HTS shelled the government sites on the M4 Highway near the city of Saraqib, east of Idlib, the village of Kafr Nable and al-Bara in the south, and the Regiment 46 in the west of Aleppo, the source said.
The HTS, rebranded in 2017, controls the city of Idlib and west of Aleppo Governorate, under the guise of the so-called "Salvation Government".
The government forces shelled the towns and villages of Kansafra, Maarat al-Naasan, Majdaliyah, and al-Bara in the south of Idlib. They also fired shells at the vicinity of the village of Kafe Nouran and Darat Izza road in the west of Aleppo, without reports on casualties, the source added.
For the past few days, the de-escalation zone has witnessed a military escalation and intense mutual shelling between the HTS and the government forces. Russian warplanes also intensified their
...KABOOM!...
s on the region over the past three days.