Syrian and Russian forces have launched air strikes on opposition bases in the country's northwest, the defense ministry said Wednesday, amid a weeklong uptick in deadly violence in the area.
Syrian forces "in cooperation with the friendly Russian forces carried out precision... air and missile strikes targeting the fortified bases of terrorist organizations" in the Idlib region, the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.
The operation came "in response to daily and repeated attacks... on civilians" in residential areas in nearby Hama province, it added, AFP reported.
The bases, which contained weapons, ammunition and drones, were "totally destroyed", according to the statement.
It did not specify the date of the bombardment, but the announcement came a day after Russian air strikes killed eight fighters affiliated with militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls opposition-held Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Despite periodic clashes, a ceasefire deal brokered by Moscow and Ankara has largely held in northwest Syria since March 2020.
But the Britain-based Observatory war monitor said the Idlib region, Syria's last opposition bastion, and nearby areas have witnessed an increase in attacks in recent days.
Syria's 12-year war broke out after Assad's repression of peaceful anti-government demonstrations escalated into a deadly conflict that pulled in foreign powers and global militants.
The war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions.
Opposition-held Idlib region is home to about three million people, around half of them displaced.
