MOSCOW, August 9. /TASS/. Ten Syrian military servicemen have been killed and 21 others injured while repelling militant attacks in the Idlib de-escalation zone, chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria Alexey Bakin told reporters on Friday.

According to Bakin, in the morning, militants shelled the outskirts of the town of Abu Dali, killing one civilian and injuring two others. Afterwards, they launched an offensive on the Syrian army’s positions in the area.

"The government forces were able to rebuff terrorists’ attack and push them back to their previous positions while mounting a counteroffensive. Ten Syrian military servicemen were killed by shelling and when repelling the terrorist attacks, 21 were wounded," he said.

Bakin added that tensions in the Idlib de-escalation zone persisted. Over the past 24 hours, 30 artillery bombardments by militants have been registered in the Idlib, Aleppo and Latakia provinces.

Two Syrian soldiers were earlier killed by shelling in the Idlib de-escalation zone, 13 others were wounded. On August 8, terrorists shelled Russia’s Hmeymim airbase. The attack killed two locals leaving four people wounded. The air base itself was not damaged.