MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Syria’s government army on Tuesday repelled several attacks staged by militants from different armed groups in the Idlib and Aleppo governorates. Three Syrian soldiers were killed and 25 more were wounded, Major General Yury Borenkov, chief of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria, told reporters on Tuesday.

"Militants from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham [a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia] and the Free Syrian Army staged several attacks on the positions of the Syrian government forces near the settlement of Mesherfa in the Idlib governorate from 5:00am until 12:45pm on December 17. The attacks involved two tanks and three armored infantry carriers.<…> All the attacks were repelled. Three servicemen of the Syrian government army were killed and 20 more were wounded," he said, adding that a militants’ tank and two infantry carriers were destroyed.

Apart from that, at about 07:45am at least 30 militants in five all-terrain vehicles armed with machineguns attacked Syrian government troops positions near the settlement of Melkiyah in the Aleppo governorate from the the territory of the Idlib de-escalation zone. The offensive was rebuffed. Five Syrian soldiers were wounded. Three terrorists’ vehicles were destroyed, Borenkov said.

According to the Russian general, reconnaissance data indicate that illegal armed groups are planning more attacks on the government army’s positions. "According to Russian reconnaissance data, about 300 militants from the Free Syrian Army, 20 pickup trucks equipped with heavy weapons and seven armored vehicles were re-deployed from the Afrin area in the Aleppo governorate to the Idlib de-escalation zone," he said.