AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels backed by Turkey said on Monday that Moscow and its Syrian government ally were trying to wrest control of two major highways in their last enclave in the northwest of the country in a bid to shore up Syria’s sanction-hit economy.

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A general view of the refugee camp near Atimah village, Idlib province, Syria, September 11 ,2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo/File Photo

The sixth day of the campaign by government forces saw heavy aerial attacks targeting the city of Jisr al-Shughour and the al-Ghab plain, as well as the towns of al-Latamenah and Maarat al-Numan in the south of Idlib province, the rebels said.

Taking those areas would bring President Bashar al-Assad close to regaining control over the strategic M5 and M4 highways from Aleppo to Hama and Latakia on the Mediterranean coast, two of Syria’s most important pre-war arteries.

The first few days of the assault struck at towns in northern Hama and southern Idlib province inside a buffer zone agreed in September between Russia and Turkey as part of a deal which averted a major offensive on the area, the last major foothold of the Syrian rebellion.

Russia and the Syrian army say they are responding to stepped up attacks by jihadists on government-held areas and deny indiscriminate strikes that medics and rescuers say have killed dozens of civilians in recent days, knocked down at least five medical centres, and paralysed day-to-day life.

The United Nations has said the attacks have included the worst use of barrel bombs by the Syrian army in 15 months. It says an estimated 323,000 people have been displaced in northwest Syria since September last year.

Residents say tens of thousands have fled their homes, many to camps on the Turkish border, since the latest offensive began. Some who failed to reach those camps sought shelter in olive orchards, residents and witnesses said.

“The shelling and aerial strikes have increased in intensity and ferocity and the area hit has widened with more intensity,” Naji Mustafa of the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front (NLF) rebel group told Reuters.

Russia says Turkey has not done enough to evict jihadists from the buffer zone or to open the M5 and M4 highways that link cities held by the government and run from Syria’s southern tip near the border with Jordan to the northern border with Turkey.

Opening the commercial and passenger routes through Idlib province would reassert the state’s control over a fragmented economy that sprung up during eight years of conflict and now facing U.S. and EU sanctions, economic experts say.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that he did not rule out a full-scale assault on militants in Idlib province, after Russian officials publicly questioned how far they would continue to tolerate jihadist control.

The Syrian opposition seeking to topple Assad accuse Moscow of using the jihadists as a pretext to step up attacks on civilian areas and put pressure on Turkey.

“There has long been a Russian aim to capture these highways. This is rejected as a principle of our revolution and it would have meant the displacement of tens of thousands of people who live in the area and refuse to be under Russian (rule),” Major Yousef Hamoud, spokesman for the Turkey-backed National Army, told Reuters.

The loss of opposition control over the highways would mean the loss of a financial asset for the rebels, as well as be a sign of their weakening hold on their last enclave.

It would also undermine a sphere of influence that Turkey has carved out in recent years in Syria.</s>Greece's prime minister says Turkey "continues to provoke" in its approach towards the ethnically divided island nation of Cyprus and that Ankara is...</s>Alwaght- The Syrian army launched wide-scale airstrikes across the Hama-Idlib axis, targeting militants both.

Led by the Tiger Forces, the Syrian Arab Army began the day by launching several surface-to-surface missiles towards the militant-held positions in the towns of Shahranaz, Kafr Naboudeh, and Qal’at Al-Madiq.

Following the ground assault, the Syrian Air Force began pounding the militant defenses in the Aleppo Governorate towns of Kafr Naha, Khan Al-Assal, and Rashideen.

The Syrian Air Force would then shift their attention to the Hama-Idlib axis, where they struck several areas under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and Jaysh Al-Izza.

This was the deepest push by forces allied with Damascus so far this year into Syria’s last major rebel stronghold. The latest activities began April 30, and rebels fear the government may launch a wider offensive to retake the area, AP reported.

Syrian troops intensified their shelling of insurgents in northern parts of Hama province and the southern parts of Idlib, state news agency SANA said.</s>Though Syria has largely been out of the headlines for over the past half-year, there's multiple indicators to suggest we could soon be headed for a major escalation over Idlib.

The last time a large Syrian-Russian joint force mustered to retake the al-Qaeda held province in the country's northwest, the United States threatened major military response (in Sept. 2018), also citing that even should so much as an accusation of chemical weapons usage surface, US strikes would ensue.

Over the past weeks both Syrian and Russian jets have conducted airstrikes over parts of Idlib in retaliation for stepped up HTS operations (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham/Syrian AQ/formerly Nusra) against government areas in a pattern of escalation that looks to continue. And now Russia’s Khmeimim airbase is facing more severe attacks via HTS rockets, mortars, and terror drones.

Russia's Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed two targeted attacks against its key air base in Syria on Monday, near Latakia, which reportedly involved 36 rockets. Russian officials said Khmeimim's air defense systems repelled the attacks, which they said also involved the coordination of drones.

RT News cited officials to describe "the militants used a drone to direct the fire from multiple launch rocket systems, but the attacks were repelled by Khmeimim’s air defense systems." Insurgents have long used drones to attempt to penetrate the air base's defenses. In response, Russia launched a series of air strikes across the Idlib 'de-escalation' zone, which is administered based on a joint agreement with Turkey.

Later in the day Beirut-based Al Masdar News confirmed citing Syrian military sources major Russian airstrikes in and around Idlib:

The Russian Air Force has unleashed a massive assault across northwestern Syria this morning, targeting several areas under the control of the militants in Hama, Aleppo, and Idlib. According to a military source in the government stronghold of Mhardeh, 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 a series of terror attacks and insurgent shelling on civilian areas of Hama and Aleppo, Syrian and Russian forces have cited the breach of ceasefire terms as justifying the new waves of air strikes.

Meanwhile, international media reports have again begun spotlighting the potential for mass humanitarian disaster and refugee displacement as Idlib again finds itself increasingly targeted by warplanes above — also given the mainstay of al-Qaeda's force in Syria is now lodged among some three million civilians in the area.

The Washington Post on Monday said that "a final showdown" is looming over Idlib, which could bring Syria straight back into the international spotlight once again, also as both the US and Israel ramp up efforts against "Iranian expansion" in the region, and as John Bolton announced the deployment of a US carrier strike group and bomber task force to the Middle East.</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>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>In the morning of May 6, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies started offensive actions against militants deployed in the northwestern part of Hama province.

According to appearing reports, government forces have already liberated the villages of al-Bana and al-Janabira. Pro-militant sources report that the SAA is attacking Tell Ottman amid heavy bombardment of “opposition” positions in the nearby areas.

On May 3, it was revealed that the SAA had deployed at least 2 TOS-1A thermobaric rocket launchers around the militant-held governorate of Idlib.

On May 4, the Russian military released a statement saying that militant groups led by Hayat Tahir al-Sham are working to create a strike force in southern Idlib. According to the statement, there was a real threat that militants may use this strike force to attack government positions in the nearby area.

The May 6 operation may be a response to this threat.
• Army retaliates to terrorists’ breaches through intensive operations against their positions in countryside of Idleb and Hama
• Russian MoD: Militants Led By HTS Are Massing In Demilitarized Zone, Could Attack Hama
• In Photos: Kurdish Rebels Destroyed Vehicle Of Turkey-led Forces In Northern Syria

Filed under: Al Qaeda, Deep State, Nusra Front, SAA, Trump, USA, War on Syria | Tagged: Liberation of Idlib |</s>– Syrian government and allied Russian warplanes on Monday intensified a weeklong bombardment of Idlib Province, targeting hospitals and other civilian infrastructure as tens of thousands of residents fled toward the border with Turkey, activists and monitors in the rebel-held region said.

The aerial campaign has killed about 100 civilians and put at least 10 hospitals out of service. It has raised fears that Syrian government forces, supported by Russia and Iranian-backed fighters, are preparing an all-out offensive in Idlib — the last area in the country controlled by rebels opposed to President Bashar Assad.

The airstrikes represent the latest and fiercest challenge to a pact brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year that was designed to avert all-out conflict in the northwestern province.

On Monday, government helicopters dropped 13 barrel bombs in southern areas of Idlib and northern pockets of neighboring Hama Province while Russian jets carried out at least 33 airstrikes in the region, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The uptick in hostilities has prompted an exodus toward the sealed Turkish border of about 200,000 of Idlib's 3 million residents that the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, a U.S.-based aid group, has described as the beginning of an "Apocalyptic scenario."

"The southern countryside of Idlib is almost empty because of the destructive shelling that targeted the whole area," said a 38-year-old activist from Idlib, who asked to be identified by the nickname Abu Muhammad. "It is brutal what is happening."

Abu Muhammad and others in the sprawling province said they expect the government and allied Iranian militias to launch a ground assault soon, which would mark the beginning of the final and largest battle by Assad to wrest back territory lost to rebels since the start of Syria's civil war.

It would also spell the breakdown of the Russian-Turkish agreement that took hold in October. The cease-fire called for a nine-mile demilitarized zone in Idlib. It has been repeatedly violated by both sides, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has described the latest escalation as the "fiercest."

The European Union and the United Nations last week called on Russia and Turkey to preserve the cease-fire, while the State Department issued a statement warning that the situation threatens to destabilize the region.

"We call on all parties, including Russia and the Syrian regime, to abide by their commitments to avoid large scale military offensives, return to a de-escalation of violence in the area, and allow for unhindered humanitarian access to address the humanitarian disaster created by the ongoing violence," State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus said.

Syrian officials quoted in state media have said the operations in Idlib are in response to attacks by al-Qaida-linked militants that killed 22 government troops and allied militiamen late last month.

Idlib Province is dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, a hard-line group affiliated until recently with ­al-Qaida.

Turkey-backed Syrian rebels in Idlib said the intensifying airstrikes are probably tied to a growing economic crisis in government-controlled areas, driven by U.S. and European Union sanctions.

According to rebels interviewed by Reuters, Assad and Russia are keen to reclaim two key highways that link Idlib to major cities controlled by the government and serve as vital commercial routes between Syria's borders with Jordan in the south and Turkey in the north.

Abu Muhammad, the activist in Idlib, said harsh economic conditions — including fuel shortages in Damascus, the capital — are provoking Assad and Russia to project strength through military action.

"Regime areas are suffering from a huge economic crisis," he said. "Civilians in regime-controlled areas have started to complain about it. … So the regime wants to distract everyone with this battle."</s>A member of the Syrian Civil Defence helps remove the body of a woman burried under the rubble of a building in the village of Rakaya Sijneh, in Idlib province Getty Images

Syrian regime forces have begun a ground offensive against insurgents in the northwestern province of Idlib, posing a new test for Turkey and its allies who have tried to prevent an upsurge in fighting.

Wave after wave of Russian and regime jets and helicopters have poured missiles and barrel bombs on the enclave in the last week, destroying hospitals and killing scores of civilians.

Troops have followed up — pro-regime media said two villages had been taken on the Hama to Idlib city highway in the southern part of the area, along with a strategically significant hillside, Tal Uthman.

They added that a counter-attack by the insurgent forces, which are dominated by the al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), managed briefly to retake the…</s>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.
The Syrian Arab Army launches a ground offensive against HTS and NFL-held areas in northern Hama and southern Idlib, after six days of intensive airstrikes on the region.