Trump’s dire tweet

US President warns Syria not to attack last rebel stronghold

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump yesterday warned Syria against launching an attack on the country’s last rebel stronghold with the help of Russia and Iran, saying the offensive could trigger a “human tragedy”.

“President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy,” Trump tweeted.

“Hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. Don’t let that happen!”

The United Nations and aid groups have warned that a full assault on Idlib could spark a humanitarian catastrophe on a scale not yet seen in Syria’s seven-year-old conflict.

Syrian government forces are now massing around the north-western province of Idlib, which is held by a complex array of rebels and violent extremist fighters, many of whom have been blacklisted as “terrorists” by world powers.

Russia and Iran have insisted that extremist groups in Idlib must be defeated.

Since early 2017, Iran, fellow regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey have sponsored a negotiations track based in the Kazakh capital to tamp down hostilities in Syria.

Last year, they had designated Idlib as a “de-escalation” zone where violence would halt in preparation for a countrywide ceasefire.

But Damascus’s main sponsor Russia has been sounding the war drums in recent days.

Tehran and Moscow provided steady political, financial and military backing to Assad throughout the war, which has left over 350,000 people dead since it broke out in 2011.

The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said an all-out assault on Idlib could still be avoided.

Despite Trump’s warning, analysts believe the US appears resigned to the likelihood of a final military victory by Syrian government forces.