In a troubling escalation of violence, Assad regime forces launched a series of drone attacks targeting civilian areas in the eastern Idlib countryside yesterday, July 21. These “suicide” drones caused significant material damage to homes and vehicles, although no civilian casualties were reported. Such attacks are nearly daily occurrences in northern Syria.
Assad regime forces targeted the outskirts of Al-Nairab and the city of Sarmin with bomb-laden drones, hitting civilian homes and cars. One drone struck a car transporting bread in Sarmin’s southern neighborhood, causing destruction but no casualties.
Observatory 80, a military movement monitoring group, has warned residents in northern Syria near the front lines to be vigilant against these FPV (first-person view) drones. These drones are remotely controlled, giving the operator a real-time view through special glasses, similar to piloting a plane. The increased FPV drone strikes occur in cooperation with flights of Russian surveillance drones, amplifying the threat to civilians in the region.
The Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, has documented a rise in suicide drone attacks by the Assad regime in northwestern Syria this year. Their report from July 8 detailed 41 drone attacks on civilian areas in the first four months of the year, originating from regime-controlled areas in Hama, Aleppo, and Idlib. These attacks have killed three civilians and injured 18 others, including a woman and four children.
Meanwhile, the conflict between the PKK-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) has intensified, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries. In the fourth operation within a week, SDF forces carried out an infiltration at dawn on Sunday, targeting the Levant Front, part of the SNA’s Third Corps, near the village of Kaljibrin in the northern Aleppo countryside. The attack resulted in the deaths of three SNA members.
The infiltration led to fierce clashes involving light and medium weapons, as well as mortar and artillery shelling. Both sides suffered casualties, with the SDF experiencing several wounded. Earlier this week, on Tuesday, the SDF conducted another infiltration operation targeting the Sultan Murad Division of the SNA east of Aleppo. This attack killed two SNA members and wounded three others. The SDF reportedly planted explosives on the body of one of the deceased, leading to further casualties when the infiltration was discovered. Intense artillery shelling by Turkish forces followed, targeting SDF positions.
The ongoing violence has further strained the already dire humanitarian situation in northern Syria. The Assad regime’s drone attacks and the escalating conflict between the SDF and SNA have left civilians in a precarious position, facing threats from both aerial assaults and ground skirmishes in a wave of increased attacks following Turkey’s announcement of normalization with the Assad regime.
