Rebels kill 27 regime fighters in Syria

BEIRUT: Rebels and Islamist forces killed more than two dozen pro-government fighters in a joint attack in a northwestern stronghold of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a monitor said on Tuesday.

In retaliation, the government and its ally Russia pounded rebel-held areas in the coastal province of Latakia and neighbouring Idlib on Tuesday, killing four civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

It was the bloodiest opposition assault on the area in three years, according to the Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside the country. The surprise offensive late on Monday targeted a pair of villages and observation points in Latakia, near the Turkish border.

"At least 27 regime forces and allied fighters, including eight officers, were killed in fierce clashes and shelling in the village of Al-Ateira," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. "They took Al-Ateira and kicked out regime forces from several observation points after killing or wounding them."

Another 40 government loyalists were wounded and six rebels were killed, he said. Al-Ateira lies about two kilometres south of the Turkish border. The Observatory said the opposition fighters included local rebels from Latakia as well as more hardline forces.

Latakia is the heartland of Assad’s regime on the Mediterranean coast, and is home to the Hmeimim airbase where Russian troops and warplanes have been based since 2015. Forces opposed to Assad have repeatedly attacked the province since the uprising broke out in March 2011. They hold a northeastern sliver of territory bordering the neighbouring province of Idlib.

The regime and Russia bombarded that strip of land and parts of western Idlib with air strikes and artillery fire on Tuesday, killing four civilians, the monitor said. That area falls under a de-escalation deal agreed last year between Russia, fellow regime backer Iran, and rebel ally Turkey.

Meanwhile, a suicide car bombing on Tuesday killed eight newly reconciled fighters from pro-government and rebel ranks in an attack on a south Syrian village claimed by the Islamic State group.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosion hit Zaizun, a village in the western countryside of Daraa province which rebels agreed in recent days to hand over to regime control.

"Eight regime and opposition fighters who recently reconciled were killed in a suicide car bomb attack targeting a military position in Zaizun," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. IS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app, saying the car driven by a suicide bomber had been packed with explosives.

Zaizun lies near a sliver of southern territory controlled by Jaish Khaled bin Walid, a faction that has pledged allegiance to IS, which is not bound by the deal between the rebels and the government.

Abdel Rahman said it was likely that this faction was responsible for the attack, adding it was the first suicide bombing targeting regime forces since they launched an offensive on Daraa. Backed by Russia, Syrian troops began a bombing blitz of Daraa province on June 19 that killed dozens of civilians and displaced more than 320,000 people. The onslaught came to an end on Friday, when Moscow brokered a deal with rebels for them to surrender their weapons and hand over towns to government troops.