Air raids have pounded targets in Syria’s last rebel-held province of Idlib – the first such attacks in three weeks – as observers wondered if it was the beginning of a much-anticipated major offensive.
At least 23 raids hit the area on Tuesday morning, Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker reported from Antakya, in neighbouring Turkey, citing activists who said “they saw Russian and Syrian regime warplanes in the sky”.
Civilians were among the dead, including children, according to activists in the region.
“This comes after a hiatus of over three weeks without air strikes in the area,” Dekker said. “Everyone here is wondering if this is the start of the Syrian government offensive on Idlib.”
The air raids came as Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson of the Russian government, a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, called Idlib a “pocket of terrorism” and said the presence of rebel groups there undermines the possibility of a political settlement to Syria’s seven-year war.
“We know that Syria’s armed forces are preparing to resolve this problem,” he said on Tuesday, without commenting on a timeframe for the expected operation.
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Last major bastion
Assad has sworn to recapture “every inch” of Syria and has made big gains against rebels since Russia joined his war effort three years ago.
Idlib is the last major bastion of the rebel groups who have been trying to oust Assad since the start of the war in 2011. His forces have been amassing around Idlib, presumably in preparation for the assault.
The United Nations has warned an all-out assault on Idlib – home to an estimated three million people, half of whom are displaced from other parts of Syria – could spark a humanitarian catastrophe on a scale not yet seen in Syria’s conflict.
Turkey, which backs certain rebel groups and whose army has a string of military posts around Idlib, has also cautioned against such an offensive.
US President Donald Trump also warned Syria against “recklessly” attacking Idlib.
Asked about Trump’s tweet, Peskov said on Tuesday such warnings do not consider “the dangerous and negative potential” of the rebel-held enclave, and show the White House does not have a “comprehensive approach” to solving the Syria crisis.
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Syrian FM threatens all-out assault on Idlib |
‘Make a call’
The UN’s Syria peace envoy called on the Russian and Turkish presidents to urgently speak to each other to help avert a “bloodbath” in Idlib.
Staffan de Mistura appealed on Tuesday to “President Putin and to President Erdogan … to make a telephone call”, even before they are set to meet with their Iranian counterpart in Tehran on Friday.
De Mistura said he was “determined” to hold talks with high-level envoys from Turkey, Iran and Russia on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, despite concerns an offensive on Idlib may begin before then. He has mediated several rounds of Syrian peace talks in recent years, without making any progress.
Assad allies Russia and Iran have insisted rebel groups in the province must be defeated and are expected to back government forces.
Russia has been carrying out air raids in Syria since September 2015, using aircraft based at the Hmeimim base in Latakia province.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, said his government is making efforts to remove rebel fighters from Idlib with the least human cost.
“The situation in Idlib is sensitive,” Zarif told Iranian state TV on Tuesday. “Our efforts are for … the exit of terrorists from Idlib to be carried out with the least human cost.”
Russian, Turkish and Iranian leaders are due to meet on September 7 in Iran and are expected to discuss the situation in northwestern Syria.
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SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
