TEHRAN - The Syrian Arab Army has launched a major counteroffensive against terrorist groups who waged a surprise assault from the northwestern city of Idlib.

Government forces have successfully halted the advance of terrorists led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), aligned with al-Qaeda.

Fighting between the Syrian army and HTS-led terrorists has reportedly expanded from western Aleppo city to southwest of Aleppo, east of Idlib in the vicinity of Saraqib city, and southeast of Idlib.

Terrorists have been launching major attacks on these fronts since Friday morning, intending to breach Aleppo.

A large majority of the terrorists who have been killed are foreigners, according to Syrian army sources.

After reinforcements and special forces were dispatched to the region, the army took back control of one village from the terrorists in southeastern Idlib after heavy clashes.

In two other villages, terrorists have been forced to retreat to Idlib city.

The counteroffensive has seen heavy rocket barrages and Russian-Syrian warplanes targeting the positions of the HTS-led Joint Operations Room.

Terror groups are reportedly attempting to open a new front after failing to advance toward a main highway called M5.

Intense battles are also taking place south of Idlib, which is under Syrian army control.

Russian and Syrian airstrikes have stretched from villages that had been taken over by terrorist groups in Western Aleppo and newly established HTS supply lines in Jabal al-Zawiya (Zawiya Mountains), south of Idlib.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting continues on two fronts in Aleppo’s countryside between the Syrian army and terrorist groups who are fiercely trying to make advances.

Syrian warplanes also targeted terrorists near the city of Marea, north of Aleppo.

According to reports, clashes persist in Saraqib, west of the Aleppo-Damascus highway, as militants fail to make any breakthrough.

The Syrian army also repelled militant attacks on a front southwest of Aleppo city, thwarting four attacks from Thursday evening until Friday morning.

Additionally, the army repelled five successive assaults on Andan, northwest of Aleppo, inflicting heavy casualties among the terror groups.

Violent clashes are also ongoing in the town of Mansoura, west of Aleppo, as militants tried unsuccessfully to enter. The town is less than two kilometers from Aleppo.

Reports indicate that large convoys of militants, heavy weapons, and other ammunition entered through a Syrian crossing with Turkey, heading toward combat fronts in western Aleppo and southern Idlib.

Syrian warplanes monitored the convoys entering the town of Marea and conducted airstrikes targeting terrorist positions and some of the newly arrived military vehicles.

In recent days, HTS, alongside factions of the Turkish-backed groups, launched a surprise broad offensive on Syrian army positions in Idlib province and the city of Aleppo.

Reports suggest that HTS used new weapons, including Ukrainian drones.

On Wednesday, at least 400 militants linked to HTS were killed while attacking Syrian army positions in Aleppo and Idlib, according to Oleg Yegnasiyuk, deputy chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria.

Analysts have been quick to point out that the timing of the terror offensive on Aleppo, which has led to the martyrdom of a senior Iranian military advisor in Syria, coincided with the Israeli ceasefire with Lebanon.

On Wednesday, the 60-day truce ended the daily exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military since October 8, 2023.

The last battle in Aleppo saw similar terrorist groups defeated in 2017 when the Syrian army, backed by Iranian military advisors and Russia, liberated the ancient city.

It was widely believed to be the turning point in the more than a decade-long Syrian war on terrorism that saw militants, who had once controlled large swathes of Syria, holed up in Idlib.

Northwest of Syria, where there are oil reserves, is also occupied by the United States military and mostly US-backed Kurdish rebels.

Turkey has maintained an illegal occupation in the northern Syrian border near Idlib over the past years as well.

This is while the Israeli regime has, for decades now, occupied the Syrian Golan Heights in another threat to the stability of the Arab country.