Syria Opposition Factions Kill 15 Regime Loyalists after Russia Air Strike

A fighter with the Turkey-backed Faylaq al-Sham faction in Syria shoots in the air during the funeral of 10 of the faction's fighters killed in a Russian air strike. (AFP)
A fighter with the Turkey-backed Faylaq al-Sham faction in Syria shoots in the air during the funeral of 10 of the faction's fighters killed in a Russian air strike. (AFP)
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Syria Opposition Factions Kill 15 Regime Loyalists after Russia Air Strike

A fighter with the Turkey-backed Faylaq al-Sham faction in Syria shoots in the air during the funeral of 10 of the faction's fighters killed in a Russian air strike. (AFP)
A fighter with the Turkey-backed Faylaq al-Sham faction in Syria shoots in the air during the funeral of 10 of the faction's fighters killed in a Russian air strike. (AFP)

Pro-Turkish Syrian opposition factions have killed at least 15 Moscow-backed Syrian regime fighters in retaliation for Russian strikes that left dozens dead among their ranks, a war monitor said Tuesday.

Moscow's air strikes Monday hit a training camp of the Faylaq al-Sham faction near the Turkish border in Syria's last major opposition bastion of Idlib, killing 78 fighters and wounding 90 more.

The National Liberation Front (NLF), an umbrella group of Ankara-backed opposition fighters based in Idlib that includes Faylaq al-Sham, vowed retaliation.

Faylaq al-Sham is an extremist group that has acted as Turkey's proxy during several Turkish military campaigns on Syrian soil and has also been the source of pro-Ankara mercenaries sent to fight in Libya and in the Caucasus over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said 15 pro-government fighters were killed over the past 24 hours in NLF bombardment on regime-held areas in the south and east of Idlib, as well as parts of the adjacent Hama, Aleppo and Latakia provinces.

NLF spokesman Naji Mustafa told AFP: "The NLF immediately responded" by targeting regime positions, especially in the south of Idlib province and north of Hama province.

"The retaliation is ongoing and will be fierce," he said.

Monday's strikes were the bloodiest surge in violence since a Russian-Turkish truce came into force almost eight months ago in northwest Syria.

That deal stemmed a Russia-backed regime offensive on the bastion that had killed more than 500 civilians and displaced almost a million people in one of the worst humanitarian crises of Syria's nine-year war.

NLF spokesman Mustafa accused the Russians of scuppering the months-long ceasefire with Monday's air strikes.

Also on Tuesday, fighters loyal to Damascus fired back on opposition factions in the south of Idlib and Hama province, the Observatory said.

At least one opposition fighter was killed on the edges of the town of Saraqeb in Idlib, according to the war monitor.

The last major opposition stronghold covers around half of Idlib province as well as slivers of adjacent provinces.

It is dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a coalition led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, but other factions including the NLF are also present.

Syria's war, which broke out after the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011, has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions at home and abroad.



Hamas Expects 'Real Progress' in Cairo Talks to End Gaza War

 Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee areas in the eastern part of Gaza City, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders, in Gaza City, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee areas in the eastern part of Gaza City, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders, in Gaza City, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Hamas Expects 'Real Progress' in Cairo Talks to End Gaza War

 Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee areas in the eastern part of Gaza City, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders, in Gaza City, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians make their way with belongings as they flee areas in the eastern part of Gaza City, after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders, in Gaza City, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Hamas expects "real progress" towards a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, an official said, as senior leaders from the Palestinian movement hold talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Saturday.

The meeting between Hamas and Egyptian mediators come amid ongoing violence in Gaza, as the Israeli military intercepted three projectiles fired from the territory and launched air strikes and artillery shelling on several areas. No injuries were reported, the military said in a statement.

The scheduled talks in Cairo also come days after US President Donald Trump suggested an agreement to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza was close to being finalized.

A Hamas official told AFP that the Palestinian group anticipated the meeting with Egyptian mediators would yield significant progress.

"We hope the meeting will achieve real progress towards reaching an agreement to end the war, halt the aggression and ensure the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza," the official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations told AFP on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The delegation will be led by the group's chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, he said.

According to the official, Hamas has not yet received any new ceasefire proposals, despite Israeli media reports suggesting that Israel and Egypt had exchanged draft documents outlining a potential ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

"However, contacts and discussions with mediators are ongoing," he added, accusing Israel of "continuing its aggression" in Gaza.

The Times of Israel reported that Egypt's proposal would involve the release of eight living hostages and eight bodies, in exchange for a truce lasting between 40 and 70 days and a substantial release of Palestinian prisoners.

President Trump said during a cabinet meeting this week that "we're getting close to getting them (hostages in Gaza) back".

Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was also quoted in an Israeli media report as saying "a very serious deal is taking shape, it's a matter of days".

Israel resumed its Gaza strikes on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

Since then, more than 1,500 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory to which Israel cut off aid more than a month ago.

Dozens of these strikes have killed "only women and children," according to a report by UN human rights office.

The report also warned that expanding Israeli evacuation orders were resulting in the "forcible transfer" of people into ever-shrinking areas, raising "real concern as to the future viability of Palestinians as a group in Gaza".

On Saturday, Israel continued with its offensive.

Gaza's civil defense agency reported an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City on Saturday morning.

AFP footage of the aftermath of the strike showed the bodies of four men, wrapped in white shrouds, at a local hospital, while several individuals gathered to offer prayers before the funeral.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said its air force intercepted three projectiles that were identified as crossing into Israeli territory from southern Gaza on Saturday.

The ceasefire that ended on March 17 had led to the release of 33 hostages from Gaza -- eight of them deceased -- and the release of around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. It resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Gaza's health ministry said on Friday that at least 1,563 Palestinians had been killed since March 18 when the ceasefire collapsed, taking the overall death toll since the war began to 50,933.