Turkey-backed rebels seize Idlib town
27 February, 2020
Syrian rebels backed by the Turkish military have seized the city of Nairab in northwest Syria’s Idlib Province, Turkish and rebel officials said on Tuesday, the first area to be taken back from advancing Syrian government forces.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, supported by Russian air power, want to retake the last large rebel-held region in Syria after nine years of war. Nearly a million Syrians have already been displaced by the most recent fighting.
Elsewhere in Idlib, government forces captured the town of Kafr Nabl and nearby areas about 30 kilometers southwest of Nairab, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a local source and pro-Damascus media.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized the offensive, saying the Syrian government cannot achieve military victory and that Washington was dealing with Ankara on how to solve the crisis. He provided no details.
Turkey has sent thousands of troops and equipment into the region to support the rebels in resisting the offensive.
“By using our Turkish friends, we've regained control of the strategic town of Nairab, the gateway of Saraqeb, after expelling the terrorist Russian militias,” said Yusef Hamoud, spokesman for the Turkish-backed National Army.
A Turkish security official said the Turkish military had supported the rebel offensive with shelling and that bomb disposal teams and the rebels were clearing the city, located about 20 kilometers southeast of rebel-held Idlib city.
Their next goal was the strategic town of Saraqeb, where in fact the M5 highway, Syria’s main north-south artery linking Damascus and Aleppo, meets the street west to the Mediterranean.
Rebels said the capture of Nairab put the M5 road within selection of their guns, just days after the government in Damascus declared it fully available to traffic for the very first time in years.
“The capture of Nairab has restored opposition morale and another target of the campaign is Saraqeb,” said Syrian military defector general Ahmad Rahhal.
About 20 kilometers south of the border, 10 civilians including seven children were killed in a Russian airstrike on a shelter for displaced families in the opposition-held town of Maarat Misrin, said Yahya Jaber, a rescuer in the civil defense emergency response force.
Rebel-held Idlib city, the provincial capital, was also attacked. The Observatory said two pupils and two teachers were killed when artillery fire struck a school in the city.
Since Turkey poured troops into northwest Syria to halt the Syrian government forces’ campaign, 17 members of the Turkish forces have been killed.
AMERICA has expressed support for Turkey’s stance on Idlib. “The regime’s offensive only heightens the risk of conflict with this NATO ally Turkey. The answer is a long term ceasefire and U.N.-led negotiations under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2254,” Pompeo said.
The fighting has strained ties between Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria’s conflict but which had also worked to contain the violence before latest flare-up.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there is not yet agreement on holding a March 5 summit he proposed with Russia, France and Germany on the Idlib conflict, but he might meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on that date.
Erdogan said a Russian delegation was set to come quickly to Turkey on Wednesday to go over the situation.
On Saturday, Erdogan said Turkey had lay out a “road map” for Syria after calls with the three leaders. The Kremlin has said it was discussing the opportunity of a four-way summit.
Turkey, which has already used about 3.7 million Syrian refugees, says it cannot handle another wave and has closed the border.
Syrian government forces are advancing closer to the camps for displaced individuals close to the Turkish border, where in fact the migrants fear being swept up in the fighting.
In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on the warring sides to permit safe passage for civilians to flee attacks. It reminded them that hospitals, markets and schools are protected by law.
“We are urging parties to permit civilians to go to safety, either in areas they control or over the front lines,” ICRC spokeswoman Ruth Hetherington said.
Most of the displaced are cramming into pockets of territory near the Turkish border. Bitter the winter season has made their plight more desperate, with many camping by roads or in fields as a result of lack of shelter.
The government offensive could mark the ultimate chapter of a war that has killed thousands of people, made an incredible number of refugees, and devastated whole cities since an uprising against Assad broke out in 2011.
Source: the-japan-news.com
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