Syrian Army Eliminates Commander Of HTS Special Forces With FPV Drone
A prominent military commander of al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the de-facto ruler of the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, died on April 21 of wounds he sustained as a result of a recent attack by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
The commander, identified by Syrian opposition activists as Abu Abdullah Agha, was reportedly targeted by an FPV suicide drone near the frontline town of Kabani in the northern Lattakia countryside a few days earlier. Several other militants from HTS were reportedly killed or wounded in the strike.
Agha, originally from the capital Damascus, was the commander of an elite special forces battalion in HTS’ Othman bin Affan Brigade. He was reportedly the mastermind behind several raids against SAA posts in the northern Lattakia countryside and other parts of the front around Greater Idlib.
The use of FPV suicide drones by the SAA was first reported in September of last year. In the last two months, more than a 100 such drones targeted equipment, posts and militants from HTS and its allies in Greater Idlib. The rate of the strikes has been steadily increasing.
The appearance of FPV suicide drones with the SAA is not surprising considering that they are cheap and easy to manufacture. It is very possible that the SAA received some support from Russia, who gained vast experience in mass producing and operating this type of drones following the start of the special military operation in Ukraine.
Originally posted on SouthFront
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