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Syria clashes kill 45 fighters: Monitor

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Beirut: Clashes between pro-government forces and militant-led groups that control Syria’s northwest killed at least 45 combatants on Tuesday, a war monitor said.


The fighting flared on the edge of Hama province when militant group Hayat Tahrir al Sham launched a dawn attack on regime positions, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.


At least 14 pro-government forces died in ensuing clashes, said the Britain-based monitor.


“Regime forces foiled the attack,” Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman said. State news agency SANA also said the offensive had been thwarted.


Hama’s northern countryside lies on the edge of a militant-controlled region including most of Idlib province.


The frontline had been relatively calm since clashes on Saturday killed more than 35 combatants, including militants and regime forces, Abdul Rahman said.


Regime air strikes on northern Hama and neighbouring Idlib had also paused for more than 24 hours, before resuming on Tuesday following the latest bout of fighting, according to the monitor.


The bombardment killed one civilian in southern Idlib, it said.


The latest battles come after rocket fire by HTS — led by a former Al Qaeda affiliate — and allied rebels killed more than 12 civilians in a regime-held village in Aleppo province late on Sunday.


Parts of Aleppo, Hama and Idlib are supposed to be protected from a massive regime offensive by a buffer zone deal that Russia and Turkey signed in September.


But it was never fully implemented as militants refused to withdraw from a planned demilitarised zone.


In January, HTS extended its administrative control over the region, which includes most of Idlib province as well as adjacent slivers of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces.


The Syrian government and Russia have upped their bombardment of the region since late April, killing more than 400 civilians, according to the Observatory.


Syria’s war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.


Meanwhile, Syrian foreign minister said on Tuesday that Syria does not want to see fighting with Turkey, after Turkey said one of its posts in Syria’s Idlib region was attacked from an area controlled by Syrian government forces.


Russia and Turkey co-sponsored a de-escalation pact for the area that has been in place since last year.


But the deal has faltered in recent months, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee. Idlib is the last remaining bastion of anti-government rebels after eight years of civil war.


“We hope that our military and the Turkish military do not fight. This is our principled stance,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al Moualem told reporters in Beijing, standing alongside the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi. “What we are fighting is terrorists, especially in Idlib, which is Syrian territory, part of our country,” Moualem said in Arabic comments translated into Chinese.


— AFP/Reuters


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