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.
Over 120 rebels are killed in northwestern Hama Governorate, after failed attacks against Syrian troops.