Rebels and militants killed more than two dozen pro-government fighters in a joint attack in a northwestern stronghold of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad\u2019s regime, a monitor said Tuesday.
\nIn retaliation, the government and its ally Russia pounded rebel-held areas in the coastal province of Latakia and neighboring Idlib on Tuesday.
\nThe government\u2019s attack resulted in the death of four civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
\nIt was the bloodiest opposition assault on the area in three years, according to the Britain-based monitor, which relies on a network of sources inside the country.
\nThe surprise offensive late Monday targeted a pair of villages and observation points in Latakia, near the Turkish border.
\n\u201cAt least 27 regime forces and allied fighters, including eight officers, were killed in fierce clashes and shelling in the village of Al-Ateira,\u201d said Observatory Head Rami Abdulrahman.
\nHe said, \u201cThey took Al-Ateira and kicked out regime forces from several observation points after killing or wounding them.\u201d
\nAnother 40 government loyalists were wounded and six rebels were killed, he said.
\nThe Observatory said the opposition fighters included local rebels from Latakia as well as more hardline forces.
\nLatakia is the heartland of Assad\u2019s regime on the Mediterranean coast, and is home to the Hmeymim airbase where Russian troops and warplanes have been based since 2015.
\nForces opposed to Assad have repeatedly attacked the province since the uprising broke out in March 2011. They hold a northeastern sliver of territory bordering the neighboring province of Idlib.
\nThe regime and Russia also bombarded that strip of land and parts of western Idlib with air strikes and artillery fire on Tuesday, killing four civilians, the monitor said.
\nThat area falls under a de-escalation deal agreed last year between Russia, fellow regime backer Iran, and rebel ally Turkey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rebels and militants killed more than two dozen pro-government fighters in a joint attack in a northwestern stronghold of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad\u2019s regime, a monitor said Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c59-islamic-world"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n