In an attack by an al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadist militia, 21 members of Syrian government troops were killed near the province of Idlib on Sunday.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the attack targeted two positions of the Syrian forces in the village of al-Masasna, killing 21 pro-regime soldiers. In addition, five jihadists were killed in the ensuing fighting in the village to the north of the neighboring province of Hama.

The Islamist group Anzar al-Tauhid attacked government forces at dawn, according to the London-based observatory, which sources its information from local activists.

Militia Anzar al-Tauhid has ties to Hurraz al-Din, a major jihadist group active in the region. Both are considered semi-official al-Qaeda offshoots in Syria. Idlib and small parts of the neighboring provinces of Hama and Aleppo are controlled mainly by the rival jihadist alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

According to the Observatory, the attack was one of the deadliest violations of the agreement between Russia and Turkey in September for a demilitarized zone in the region. The agreement, negotiated between Ankara and Moscow, aims to reduce the influence of HTS jihadists and other extremist groups in Idlib.