Four Syrian regime soldiers killed in rebel shelling after Russian strike on Idlib

Four Syrian regime soldiers were killed in the early hours of Sunday morning in rebel shelling of northern Latakia province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported, following a deadly Russian strike on Idlib city.

SOHR said that the dead soldiers included one colonel and another officer, and that the Fath al-Mobin rebel operations room was responsible.

Syrian pro-regime sources said that the attack targeted the Nabi Younis peak in the mountains of northern Latakia province.

At least two regime soldiers were also wounded in the rebel shelling. The injured soldiers were taken to a regime military hospital for treatment.

The rebel attack came less than one day after Russian warplanes struck the outskirts of rebel-held Idlib city in northwestern Syria, killing a man, his wife, and their son and wounding six other people.

The Russian attack on Idlib city followed a period of relative calm in rebel-held northwestern Syria.

Syria’s conflict broke out in 2011 following the brutal suppression of pro-democracy protests by the Assad regime.

Over 500,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced, most of them by regime bombardment of civilian areas.

The Assad regime has been able to regain control over most of Syria after receiving crucial backing from Iran and Russia.

Idlib province in northwestern Syria is now the last area of the country to be held by anti-Assad rebels.