Airstrikes in rebel-held northwestern Syria kill at least 8

BEIRUT (AP) — Government forces intensified their bombardment of rebel-held towns and villages in northwest Syria, killing at least eight people Tuesday, including five in an airstrike on a market, opposition activists said.

The new wave of violence that began on April 30 is the worst since September, when Russia and Turkey brokered a cease-fire that averted a government offensive on Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold. The new wave of violence has resulted in hundreds of civilian dead and injured and over 150,000 newly displaced persons, according to the U.N.

Idlib province, that is home of 3 million people many of them displaced from other parts of Syria, is mostly controlled by al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS.

The latest wave of violence was triggered by attacks by HTS gunmen that killed dozens of troops.

Opposition-linked first responders, known as the White Helmets, said warplanes bombed a market in the village of Ras el-Ain on Tuesday morning, killing five people, including three children, and wounding 20. White Helmets also said that three other people were killed in the villages of Maar Tamater and Bara.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, reported airstrikes and shelling on Idlib and northern rebel-held parts of Hama province. It said 13 civilians were killed on Tuesday alone.

The Observatory said insurgents Tuesday attacked army positions in Latakia province on the edge of Idlib killing nine soldiers and pro-government gunmen. The Observatory said three insurgents were killed in the attack.

Syrian state news agency SANA said troops were pounding insurgents' positions "in retaliation for their violations of the truce."

An HTS military commander known as Abu Khaled al-Shami said in comments posted online that the looming battle "will be decisive and we will use all our capabilities that will surprise the enemy."

On Monday, Syrian troops captured the village of al-Bani and the nearby Othman hill in the northern countryside of Hama province. </s> A Britain-registered Syrian rights watchdog says that at least 544 civilians have been killed and more than 2,000 injured since a Russia-backed assault on the final rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria began two months ago.

 

 The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), which monitors casualties and has briefed UN agencies, on July 5 accused the Russian military and its Syrian government ally of deliberately targeting civilians in rebel-held Idlib Province and neighboring regions.

 

 "The Russian military and its Syrian ally are deliberately targeting civilians with a record number of medical facilities bombed," Fadel Abdul Ghany, chairman of SNHR, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

 

 The SNHR, which is registered in Britain, keeps tabs on reported civilian deaths in Syria and says its information is gathered by some 120 members working inside and outside of Syria.

 

 In late April, Russian jets backed the Syrian army’s massive offensive against parts of Idlib and Hama provinces in the biggest escalation in the war between Syrian President Bashar al Assad and rebels in months.

 

 U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Russian-Syrian joint military operation had used cluster munitions and incendiary weapons in the attacks along with large air-dropped explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated civilian areas, based on reports by first responders and witnesses.

 

 Idlib-based Civil Defense spokesman Ahmad al Sheikho said that "whole villages and towns have been emptied" in the offensive.

 

 SNHR and witnesses said that 15 people, including children, were killed on July 5 in the village of Mhambil in western Idlib after Syrian army helicopters dropped barrel bombs on a civilian quarter.

 

 Moscow and Damascus have denied that their jets target civilian areas with cluster munitions and incendiary weapons.

 

 Russia's UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, said all military activities are in response "to provocations from terrorists."

 

 UN chief Antonio Guterres last month called on Russia and Turkey to stabilize Syria’s Idlib Province, which he said was suffering “a humanitarian disaster.”

 

 Russia, Syria’s main ally, and Turkey, which has backed antigovernment rebels in the eight-year civil war, last year cosponsored a de-escalation agreement for the area in northwest Syria.

 

 But the deal has failed to hold, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee Idlib, where the last remaining antigovernment rebels are holding out against a Syrian government military offensive.

With reporting by Reuters, The Daily Sabah, and TRT World </s> SYRIA – Units of the Syrian Arab Army have fully mobilized and taken the offensive across three theatres in Syria. What began as a retaliation to the frequent breaches and attacks by terrorists on safe areas in the countryside of Hama and Idlib, developed by this morning into an intensive operation against their positions and supply routes in Idlib southern countryside and Hama northern countryside.

A SANA reporter in Hama’s northern countryside said that army units retaliated to attacks by al-Nusra Front terrorists and the groups affiliated to it on the safe areas through conducting concentrated bombardments on their gatherings and supply routes in the villages of Kafr Naboudeh, Abdin and Kafr Sajna in the countryside of Idlib and Hama.

The reported noted that heavy losses were inflicted upon the terrorist groups in the strikes, and their rocket launch pads, dens and fortifications were destroyed.

The groundwork for the counter-offensive began on Sunday when army units destroyed dens and rocket launch pads belonging to Nusra terrorists in al-Latamina, al-Zakat, al-Sahryia, al-Amiqa, al-Hiwash and al-Qarqour in Hama northwestern countryside, and in the towns of al-Fatira and Ehsem in Idlib southern countryside.

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and allied forces have initiated a full-scale offensive, storming several areas along the southern part of the demilitarized zone in the northwestern region of Syria. Concerns that the offensive might be postponed were based on ongoing Russian-Turkish talks in northern Aleppo, which this morning appeared to not have materialized into anything which might have prevented the military push.

Russian and Turkish armed forces had been in talks about establishing a safe zone in the northern region of the Aleppo Governorate, and while sources indicate this still may materialize, it is clear now that Syrian and Russian forces are creating ‘new facts on the ground’ prior to any possible agreement that Turkey would have to submit to. For its part, Russian diplomatic efforts are aimed at dissuading the Turkish Armed Forces from launching an operation to seize the Tal Rifa’at area, as this would create more issues in northern Aleppo.

Now that the Syrian Army has launched its offensive, among their aims is to take control of the demilitarized zone region that stretches from the Al-Ghaab Plain to the Abu Dhuhour Crossing. This was conducted in concert with strong efforts from the Russian Air Force, who has engaged across three theatres.

Backing up the Syrian Army and its allies on the ground, the Russian Air Force has conducted significant sorties across northwestern Syria throughout the morning of May 6th, targeting several areas under the control of the militants in Hama, Aleppo, and Idlib. The Russian Air Force began their aerial bombardment of northwestern Syria just minutes before the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) made their push in northern Hama.

Following the attack on western Aleppo, Russian jets began to bombard southern Idlib and northern Hama, scoring direct hits on the militant posts near the front-lines. The Russian Air Force is reportedly concentrating their airstrikes on the militant supply routes and weapons storages, as these are key to the rebel groups fighting the Syrian Arab Army in northwestern Syria. </s> Russia has increased its airstrike campaign on the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib in the past few days, which rights group warn could lead to a new humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.

More than 100 Russian airstrikes have targeted Idlib and parts of the neighboring province of Hama in recent days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told VOA.

The observatory, which has researchers across Syria, charged that Syrian government helicopters have also dropped barrel bombs on towns and villages across Idlib.

“The Russian escalation has a clear message to al-Nusra Front,” said Rami Abdulrahman, director of the observatory, told VOA.

“This is also a message to everyone else, including the U.S., that when it comes to northwestern Syria, it’s only Russia who calls the shots,” Abdulrahman added.

Since late April, militants have launched several military operations against Syrian regime troops, killing scores of them, which prompted the recent Russian bombardment that has killed dozens of civilians, according to local media reports.

Russia has been backing the Syrian regime since 2015, helping government forces and allied militias recapture rebel-held cities such as Aleppo, Homs, Daraa and Damascus suburbs.

Idlib is under the control of a former al-Qaida affiliate called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was formerly known as the al-Nusra Front. The Syrian province is the last stronghold of rebel forces battling the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war in 2011, the U.S. has twice carried out airstrikes against Syrian regime targets, punishing Assad for allegedly using chemical weapons against civilians in Damascus and elsewhere.

The U.S., which has led a coalition to combat the Islamic State (IS) terror group in eastern Syria, does not have any military presence in northwestern Syria, including Idlib. In the past, however, U.S. officials did voice concerns about the presence of tens of thousands of foreign fighters, including al-Qaida-affiliated terrorists, in the province but cautioned against full-scale military operations, maintaining that doing so would lead to a humanitarian crisis, as the province is home to 3 million people.

“Idlib is essentially the largest collection of al-Qaida affiliates in the world right now,” Michael Mulroy, deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, said this week during remarks at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

“We have very limited insights as to what’s going on,” he added.

Idlib is one of several de-escalation zones in Syria that were created in 2017 after trilateral talks among Russia, Turkey and Iran to try to prevent further escalation among warring parties.

U.S. officials have urged Russia and the Syrian regime to comply with their commitments in Idlib, which were to ensure that the zones remain free of escalation.

“The violence must end,” Morgan Ortagus, State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement this week. “The United States reiterates that any escalation in violence in northwest Syria will result in the destabilization of the region.”

Turkey and Russia reached an agreement last September that prevented a planned Syrian regime offensive on Idlib and other areas near the Turkish border. Turkey assured Russia that the local rebel and militant groups, some of which are allied with Ankara, would not assault Russian and Syrian government forces.

However, HTS’s advances in Idlib earlier this year, which led to the terror group’s consolidation of power over most of the province, has put an already fragile agreement between Russia and Turkey at further risk.

One point of the Turkey-Russia deal was that Ankara would work to disarm and dislodge the jihadist group and other extremists from Idlib. But Turkey has so far been unable to implement that part of the agreement.

“Turkey has two options. The first one is to give in to Russian demands by entering a war with HTS and its allies,” said Ahmed Rahal, a former Syrian army general who is now a military analyst based in Istanbul.

“But this unlikely because the jihadists are based in a civilian area where more 3 million people live. Turkey cannot enter such a war because it would create a major refugee and humanitarian crisis. That’s why Ankara is pushing for a diplomatic solution.”

The other option for Turkey, according to Rahal, is to yield the way for its allied Syrian rebel forces to enter an open-ended war with Syrian regime troops.

Pro-regime Syrian media outlets on Thursday reported a continued military buildup by regime troops near the southern part of Idlib, in what appears to be a final preparation for a ground offensive against rebel forces.

But experts say a major offensive carried out by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally is unlikely at this point.

“I don’t think the Syrian regime would launch a large-scale ground offensive in Idlib,” said Fabrice Balanche, a professor at the University of Lyon in France who is an expert on Syria and follows developments in the country.

He told VOA the ongoing movements of Syrian government forces in south Idlib could be part of the “Syrian regime’s policy of containment” to ensure that jihadists would not be able to expand their operations into Idlib’s neighboring provinces.

The U.N. has blamed the Russia and Syrian regimes for the damage to a medical center and two hospitals resulting from the airstrikes in northwestern Syria this week.

While thousands of civilians have already evacuated from Idlib and its surrounding areas, the U.N. fears that such military activities could result in a massive refugee crisis in the region.

“Since February, over 138,500 women, children and men have been displaced from northern Hama and southern Idlib,” said David Swanson, an official with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“Between 1 and 28 April, it’s estimated more than 32,500 individuals have moved to different communities in Aleppo, Idlib and Hama governorates,” Swanson told AFP. </s> ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey warned Syria on Thursday that it would respond if attacks in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province continue, after a Turkish observation post in the region was attacked by mortar shells, which Turkey’s Defense Ministry said were fired from areas under Syrian government control.

A ministry statement said three Turkish soldiers were lightly wounded when 35 mortar rounds were fired at the observation point in what it described as a deliberate attack.

“If the regime continues its attacks we will take the necessary action. No one should have any doubts about that,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a joint press conference in Ankara with his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Cavusoglu also called on Russia and Iran to exert pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to stop assaults in Idlib.

Thursday’s attack, which also damaged equipment and facilities at the observation post, came amid a ground offensive launched by Syrian government forces in late April against rebel-held areas near the Turkish border. Al-Qaida linked militants and other jihadi groups have come to dominate the Idlib enclave, which first fell under rebel control in 2015.

The Russian military had a different version of events on Thursday, blaming militants for the attack on Turkish troops. Russia is a main backer of Assad and his forces, while Turkey backs some Syrian opposition fighters.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Turkey had asked Russia for help after one of its checkpoints in the de-escalation zone came under fire from shelling. In response to that request, Russia launched an airstrike that destroyed a group of rebels and the weapons used in the attack.

The ministry said Turkey gave Russia the coordinates for the militant’s location for the strike.

Syrian opposition activists reported shelling and airstrikes on different rebel-held parts of Idlib and the central province of Hama. The opposition’s Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four people were killed in the town of Khan Sheikoun alone on Thursday.

The recent government offensive began after a Russia-Turkey-backed truce in place for months failed to reduce the influence of extremists in the stronghold. The Russian-Turkish agreement established demilitarized zones with observation posts to monitor the cease-fire.

Speaking to reporters, Cavusoglu denied news reports that Turkey and Russia had reached a new cease-fire agreement for Idlib but said the two countries were engaged in “serious and sincere” efforts to stop the conflict.

Le Drian said: “(Idlib) is such a dangerous and explosive zone that it is important that the cease-fire is meticulously respected.”

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. </s> BEIRUT, LEBANON — Warplanes struck a hospital in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on Sunday, knocking it out of service, as government forces continued to bombard the rebel-held region following insurgent attacks last week.

The latest fighting has killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands in Idlib and nearby rebel-held areas, who fled to safer regions further north. It's the heaviest fighting in months, and has raised fears the government may launch a wider offensive to retake the country's last major rebel stronghold.

Attacks on hospitals and clinics in the past have preceded major government offensives on rebel-held areas, including the 2016 attack on rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo and last year's offensive on eastern suburbs of the capital, Damascus.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian warplanes were behind the attack on the main hospital in the rebel-held village of Hass. The opposition-run activist collective Baladi News also reported the airstrike on the hospital, adding that it was not clear if there were casualties.

The Observatory said that since the early hours of Sunday, Russian warplanes carried out more than 50 airstrikes on Idlib and nearby Hama province. It said government and Russia bombardment killed at least six people on Sunday in different rebel-held areas.

Turkey's Defense Ministry meanwhile said that two Turkish soldiers were wounded on Saturday when mortar shells fell near one of their positions in Hama province.

Turkey and Russia, who back opposite sides in Syria's eight-year conflict, brokered a truce in September that averted a government offensive on Idlib.

But the truce has been repeatedly violated, and parts of it have yet to be implemented, including the withdrawal of al-Qaida-linked militants from the front lines. Two major highways that cut through rebel-held areas were supposed to be reopened before the end of 2018 but remain closed.

The latest fighting erupted on April 30, three days after al-Qaida-linked militants launched attacks on the positions of government forces in northern Syria, killing 22 soldiers and pro-government gunmen.

“Any action taken by the Syrian Arab Army is legitimate since there has been no commitment to agreements reached,” a Syrian security official was quoted as saying by the government-run Syrian Central Military Media.

Pro-government media said insurgents shelled villages near the front lines, killing one civilian.

State news agency SANA quoted an unnamed Syrian military official as saying that insurgents are preparing to launch an offensive on government-held areas, warning that such an attack “would mark the beginning of their end.”

Government troops and insurgents have been reinforcing their positions in recent days in a sign that violence is expected to continue as Muslims mark the holy month of Ramadan beginning Monday. </s> The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and the jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham are involved in the deadliest battle of the month in northwestern Hama, Al-Masdar News reports.

What began as a successful month for the Syrian Arab Army has since turned in a blood bath with all warring parties trading heavy offensives along the Hama-Idlib axis.

The death from this week’s battles has already exceeded over 100 dead, as a surprise Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham offensive has resulted in little map changes and heavy losses.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the militants suffered over 120 casualties during their offensive on Thursday night.

A source from the Syrian military was more conservative with their numbers, as they claimed the militant death toll was estimated between 60-70.

The source added that the Syrian Arab Army and their allies from the National Defense Forces (NDF) lost 39 soldiers during the battles on Thursday and Friday.

The majority of the Syrian Army’s dead were reported on Thursday night when Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham broke through their lines at the small town of Jibeen.

As of now, the militants are in control of two out of the three areas they targeted on Thursday night; however, the Syrian Arab Army is working to retake these sites in order to secure the region north of Mhardeh. </s> Syrian government forces look set to recover a strategic town that has been in rebel hands since 2014 in a major Russian-backed offensive into the opposition’s last major stronghold.

An organisation that monitors the war and a pro-Damascus military source said insurgents had withdrawn from Khan Sheikhoun overnight, though the main insurgent group in the area said rebels still held part of the town and fighting continued.

Capturing Khan Sheikhoun would be an important gain for President Bashar al-Assad into the northwestern region where his bid to recover “every inch” of Syria has run into complications including Turkish forces on the ground.

Syrian state media, in a broadcast from near the town, reported that government forces had widened their control including by seizing a highway running through Khan Sheikhoun, which was targeted in a sarin poison gas attack in 2017.

The pro-Damascus military source said the town was under army control after the rebels were caught in a pincer movement and fled. “There are some pockets and explosive devices, there are a few who refuse to withdraw and want to die,” the source said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, said rebels had withdrawn from their last piece of territory in neighbouring Hama province in addition to Khan Sheikhoun.

The most powerful insurgent group in the area, the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, denied this and said the battle continued.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said rebels still held part of Khan Sheikhoun and nearby areas in northern Hama despite what it described as a redeployment in the town after fierce enemy bombardment.

Another rebel alliance, the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front, said that as a result of bombardment in the northern Hama area its forces had left positions that had become difficult to supply and had redeployed to others.

Rebel fighters “did not leave an inch of land before making the enemy taste great calamities”, it said in a statement.

The observatory and the pro-Damascus military source said Syrian rebels had pulled back to a Turkish military position in the town of Morek, south of Khan Sheikh in Hama province.

Turkey, which supports some of the rebel groups in the northwest, has established a dozen military positions in the area under deals with Russia.

One of its main concerns is to prevent a further influx of Syrian refugees fleeing government control. Some 3.6 million Syrian refugees already live in Turkey.

The pro-Damascus source said negotiations were under way between Turkey and Russia over the withdrawal of the Turkish position.

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey would not remove the observation post located near Morek, which a Turkish convoy was trying to reach on Monday when it came under attack.

Syrian government forces stepped up military operations against the northwestern region in late April, in an offensive that has killed hundreds of people and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee toward the Turkish border.

After eight years of conflict, Mr Assad has defeated his rebel opponents across much of the country with help from Russian and Iran-backed forces.

Russia has military servicemen stationed on the ground in the Idlib region and is following the situation there closely, Interfax news agency cited Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Tuesday. He said any attacks carried out by militants in Idlib’s de-escalation zone would be forcefully suppressed.

Khan Sheikhoun has been in rebel hands since 2014. The opposition’s territorial foothold in neighbouring Hama dates back to the earliest days of the civil war.

Russian-backed Syrian government advances around Khan Sheikhoun had threatened to encircle rebel fighters in their last remaining territory in northern Hama, including the towns of Latamneh and Kafr Zeita. Local activists and the observatory said the rebels had quit those towns.

The Turkish military convoy was targeted in an air strike on Monday after it entered the territory. Rebel sources said the Syrian government had targeted it.

Syrian state media said the despatch of the convoy into Syria was an act of aggression and it had entered to help insurgents fighting an army advance in Khan Sheikhoun.

The US-based Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), which supports medical facilities in the northwest, says more than 730 civilians have been killed by government or Russian forces since late April.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said more than 500 civilians have died in hostilities. – Reuters </s> This photo provided by the activist-operated Thiqa News Agency, shows part of a Turkish military convoy heading toward the town of Khan Sheikhoun, a rebel-held northwestern town that’s part of a government offensive on the country’s last rebel stronghold, in Idlib province, Syria, Monday, Aug. 19, 2019. A Turkish military convoy carrying ammunition crossed into northern Syria Monday and moved south through rebel-held areas before it was stopped by airstrikes that struck near the highway where the convoy was moving, opposition activists said. (Thiqa News Agency via AP)

BEIRUT (AP) — The main insurgent group in the Syrian province of Idlib pulled out of a key rebel town as government forces advanced in the area on Tuesday amid intense bombardment and airstrikes, a militant group and opposition activists said.

As the militants withdrew, government troops moved into northern and western neighborhoods of Khan Sheikhoun, marking a significant gain for President Bashar Assad’s forces as they try to chip away at territory controlled by the opposition in Idlib. The northwestern province, dominated by an al-Qaida-linked faction, is the last major rebel-held bastion in Syria.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria’s main al-Qaida-linked faction, said in a statement that its fighters carried out “a re-deployment,” withdrawing to areas south of the town of Khan Sheikhoun. From there, they would continue to defend the territory, it said.

Syrian state TV said government troops have expanded their presence in the Khan Sheikhoun area, without giving further details.

“The victories that were achieved show the determination of the people and the army to strike terrorists, until all parts of Syria are liberated,” Assad said, according to comments released by his office.

The withdrawal is a blow to the opposition. Syrian government forces have been on the offensive in Idlib and northern parts of Hama province since April 30, forcing nearly half a million people to flee to safer areas further north. The fighting also killed more than 2,000 people, including hundreds of civilians.

After months of intense bombardment, the insurgents’ defenses appear to be crumbling as they are now losing ground at a much faster pace compared with the first three months of the government push.

In the long-running Syrian civil war, now in its ninth year, the northwestern region — where Turkish, Russian, U.S. and Iranian interests are at stake — has taken center stage in the conflict.

The latest government gains come as NATO allies Turkey and the U.S. are discussing setting up a buffer inside Syria — one that Ankara wants to push Syrian Kurdish fighters it considers terrorists further to the east.

There has been speculation, meanwhile, that Russia and Turkey, which back rival sides in Syria’s conflict, have reached an agreement that would allow the Syrian army to retake parts of Idlib and reopen a highway that links the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest.

Khan Sheikhoun, which had been held by militants since 2014, sits on that highway.

After the capture of Khan Sheikhoun, Syrian troops are likely now to move north toward Maaret al-Numan, another town on the highway that has been subjected to intense airstrikes over the past days. Opposition activists also reported intense bombardment on the rebel-held town of Jisr al-Shughour on the southwestern edge of Idlib on Tuesday.

Backed by Russian air power, Syrian troops were able to enter parts of Khan Sheikhoun overnight, according to opposition activists, and are now clearing the area abandoned by militants of explosives and booby traps.

“After fierce bombardment by the criminal enemy that avoids direct confrontation with holy warriors by implementing a scorched earth policy, our fighters have redeployed south of Khan Sheihoun,” the statement said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other insurgent groups withdrew from Khan Sheikhoun as well as the towns and villages south of the town.

According to the Observatory, Khan Sheikhoun was home to about 1 million people, nearly 700,000 of them displaced by fighting in other parts of the country, before the government offensive began in April. In recent days hundreds of civilians remained in the town according to the group that tracks Syria’s war, now in its ninth year.

The Syrian Response Coordination Group, a relief group active in northwestern Syria, called on Tuesday for a “humanitarian truce” to allow civilians who are stuck in the areas of fighting to leave. The group said in a statement the Russia and Syrian governments “are practicing terrorism against civilians” in violation of international laws.

Khan Sheikhoun was a stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked militant faction, the most powerful group in rebel-held areas in Syria. The town was also the scene of a chemical attack on April 4, 2017 that killed 89 people.

At the time, the United States, Britain and France pointed a finger at the Syrian government, saying their experts had found that nerve agents were used in the attack. Days later, the U.S. fired 59 U.S. Tomahawk missiles at the Shayrat Air Base in central Syria, saying the attack on Khan Sheikhoun was launched from the base.

The Syrian government and its Russian allies denied there was a chemical attack.

Also Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned the Syrian government against “playing with fire,” a day after an airstrikes targeted a Turkish army convoy near Khan Sheikoun, killing 3 civilians.

Cavusoglu said the convoy was on its way to provide “security” to a Turkish observation post in Idlib. Syria said the convoy was carrying ammunition to rebels.

“We will do what is necessary for the security of our soldiers … but we are working to avoid reaching that point,” he said.
Over 120 rebels are killed in northwestern Hama Governorate, after failed attacks against Syrian troops.