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.



Blaze at Cairo Telecom Building Kills 4 and Disrupts Internet, Phone

A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Blaze at Cairo Telecom Building Kills 4 and Disrupts Internet, Phone

A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
A boy wearing a mask looks on, as firefighters work to extinguish a fire that erupted in a telecommunications building in the Ramses district of downtown Cairo, Egypt July 7, 2025. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Four workers were killed and at least 22 others were injured in a fire that broke out on Monday at a key data center in Cairo, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the spokesperson at Egypt's Health Ministry, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The blaze at a Telecom Egypt facility, which state TV said was contained on Monday, caused disruptions to communications across the capital.

Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, said in a statement on Tuesday that services will be gradually restored within 24 hours.

In a statement on Tuesday, Telecom Egypt said it mourned the employees that lost their lives and offered support for their families.

The fire halted phone calls, and disrupted internet access, with internet monitoring group Netblocks saying network data showed national connectivity at 62% of ordinary levels.

The health ministry posted alternative numbers for ambulance services across different governorates in case people were unable to reach its main hotline.

Besides phone calls, some digital banking services were also impacted including credit cards, ATM machines and online transactions, a bank source and residents said on Monday. Banks had already been closed for the day.

The injuries were mostly because of smoke inhalation, health ministry spokesperson Ghaffar said on Monday.

The state news agency MENA said on Monday the fire had been prevented from spreading to the entire building and neighboring rooftops.

An initial examination indicated that the fire was likely to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, MENA cited a security source as saying.