TEHRAN - The Syrian Arab Army and its allied forces have repelled a large offensive by terrorist groups in a village northeast of Hama.

Reports earlier indicated that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorists, alongside allied militant groups, started waging offensive operations in the direction of Hama after a pause of almost 24 hours.

HTS-led terrorists have already captured many areas in the neighboring city of Aleppo. Footage emerged on Monday showing displaced Syrians sleeping in temporary shelters amid harsh weather conditions.

Efforts are currently underway to reinforce and support advanced frontlines. This follows a visit on Sunday by the Syrian Chief of Staff to northern Hama’s frontline, which forms the primary contact line for terror groups in southern Idlib.

Before the surprise and large-scale terrorist offensive last week that saw Aleppo fall, the militants had been holed up in Syria’s northwestern Idlib for the best part of the past five years.

In Aleppo itself, clashes have erupted and escalated between opposing terrorist groups following disputes over the governance of Syria’s second-largest city.

Syrian and Russian air forces carried out two airstrikes targeting a convoy of militants in the city of Khan Sheikhoun in the Idlib countryside.

The airstrikes have reportedly continued, focusing on the southern Idlib countryside and movements by militants in two areas that HTS had occupied.

The Syrian army has been relying heavily on airpower amid reports that airstrikes extended to the western countryside of Aleppo. Military vehicles and movements of militants entering Aleppo were also targeted.

Analysts have highlighted the advanced weapons being used by militants in this offensive, which has shifted Western media coverage away from the US-backed Israeli genocidal war on Gaza.

Russian news agency RIA Novosti, citing a source close to Syria’s intelligence services, has reported that HTS attacked Aleppo using advanced American-made arms and with the help of Ukrainian advisors.

The Takfiri militants employed drones equipped with encrypted GPS and artificial intelligence, “so that the use and navigation of attack UAVs and kamikaze drones took place from a long distance,” the source revealed.

The source added that US-provided electronic warfare systems disrupted the Syrian army’s communications during the attack as Ukrainian advisors, alongside defected Syrian officers, played a key role in training the militants on high-tech equipment.

The Syrian army has intercepted drones in the northern Hama countryside with air defense systems, shooting down several of them. Militants had used drones intensively during their attacks on Aleppo and other areas in recent days.

A statement issued on Monday by the General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces read:

“During the past 24 hours, the targeting carried out by the Syrian Arab Army in cooperation with the friendly Russian forces operating in Syria continued through concentrated air, missile and artillery strikes on terrorist sites, warehouses, supply lines and axes of movement in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib, which resulted in the destruction of five command headquarters and seven ammunition and various weapons depots, some of which contained drones.

The precise strikes launched by our armed forces in cooperation with friendly Russian forces led to the elimination of more than 400 terrorists, including various foreign nationalities, during the past hours.

Our armed forces have begun moving on several axes in the countryside of Aleppo, Hama and Idlib to encircle the terrorists, expel them from the areas they entered, secure them completely and establish new concentration points to prepare for the next attack, with more military reinforcements continuing to arrive at the engagement axes.

The General Command of the Army and Armed Forces stresses that all the rumors about terrorist organizations controlling areas, towns and villages are false and fall within the false propaganda launched by these organizations in an attempt to raise the morale of their members who have begun to flee in many locations and towns as a result of the painful strikes and losses they have suffered.

The General Command of the Army and Armed Forces affirms the readiness, determination, and resolve of the men of the Syrian Arab Army to continue carrying out their missions at a high pace and with great enthusiasm until every pure inch defiled by terrorism is restored.”

The Syrian Ministry of Defense further pointed out that joint Syrian-Russian warplanes launched successive strikes on terrorist gatherings and their movement axes on the outskirts of the town of al-Safira in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, killing and wounding dozens of terrorists in addition to destroying vehicles and machinery they had in their possession.

Experts have cautioned that Idlib and Aleppo provinces will turn into open battlefields between terrorist groups and the Syrian army over the next few days with the military momentum shifting regularly in favor of one side over the other.

This comes as civilians have issued distress calls from Aleppo and its northern countryside to rescue them before terrorists enter and to establish safe corridors for their evacuation.

Terrorist groups are believed to be holding more than 10,000 civilians in the city of al-Safira in the Aleppo governorate, preventing them from leaving.