Suicide bombers attack military position in Syria’s Hama province

A total of three soldiers were killed on Tuesday when a rebel group attacked a military position in the northern countryside of Hama province in central Syria, state news agency SANA reported.

The attack north of Hama city adds to pressures on Russian-Turkish agreements that have contained the war in northwestern Syria, the last major foothold of the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad.

The rebels, some wearing bomb vests, attacked the military post before daybreak Tuesday and were discovered by the soldiers.

The soldiers clashed with the assailants and killed them along with the three suicide bombers who detonated their vests during the clashes.

It's the latest in a string of attacks in the countryside of Hama and the nearby Idlib province in northwestern Syria recently.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

State media said the militants were dressed as local farmers when they hit the position near Taybat al-Imam around 3 a.m. (midnight GMT). A tank supporting them was destroyed.

“The clash between the guards at the position and the terrorists resulted in three martyrs and the killing of all members of the terrorist group,” state media cited a military source as saying.

Russia and Turkey struck an agreement last September that staved off a major government offensive into Idlib and adjacent areas of Hama and Aleppo provinces through the creation of the demilitarised zone.

But jihadist groups that hold sway in the Idlib region have further tightened their grip in recent months, and Russia remains keen to help Assad take back the territory.

President Vladimir Putin, Assad’s most powerful ally, discussed Syria with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow on Monday and they agreed to conduct joint patrols in the area, where Turkey has also deployed forces in rebel-held areas.

Last week, Damascus said its ally Russia had started to feel that its patience was running out over the northwest. However, Moscow had told Damascus that Turkey was still determined to implement the agreement reached in September.

Idlib and adjoining areas of Hama and Aleppo provinces are largely under the control of jihadist groups including Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front.