Ten fighters linked to Bashar al-Assad’s regime were killed and nine wounded in northern Syria on Friday after an anti-tank missile hit the bus in which they were being transported, according to local media reports.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights describes the episode as the deadliest involving pro-Assad forces since the truce agreed two years ago between Russia and Turkey. In another attack this month, but launched by regime soldiers, six rebels were killed.
Friday’s attack, which took place in the Anjara area of ​​western Aleppo, controlled by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a former Syrian wing of al Qaeda, was not claimed by any jihadist faction or group. According to information from the observatory, the fighters were being transported to their hometowns when the explosion took place.
Hours after the attack, warplanes from Russia, the main international actor in the conflict and an Assad supporter, carried out air strikes in rebel-held areas in the northwest, the observatory said, saying it had no information on casualties.
The head of the Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah, which is also active in the Syrian civil war, offered solidarity to the families of the dead during a televised speech. Northwest Syria is the last major stronghold of insurgents fighting Assad and his dictatorship’s allies.
Also on Friday, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted to an announcement made by the United States the day before about the permission for some foreign investments in areas of northern Syrian territory that are outside the control of the dictatorship.
The US Treasury Department approved activities in 12 sectors, including agriculture and construction, but stressed that it does not allow transactions involving the Assad dictatorship or those that, over 11 years of conflict, were sanctioned by Washington. The ministry said the purpose of the permit would be to defeat the Islamic State (IS) in the region through economic stabilization.
“Private sector investment in these areas will help reduce the likelihood of an Islamic State resurgence by combating the desperate conditions that allow terrorist groups to recruit and network,” said a senior government official.
The Syrian foreign ministry said it was determined to defeat what it called “Washington’s new conspiracy and destructive approach”, encouraging people in the north of the country to boycott it. Syria’s northeast holds much of the country’s oil reserves and wheat production, while the northwest was once an agricultural and industrial zone.
