Syria ceasefire at risk after US fires missile at al-qaeda leaders

A TENTATIVE ceasefire in north-west Syria, the second in a month, threatened to unravel yesterday after the US launched an airstrike to target prominent al-qaeda figures.

At least 40 people were killed when the missile struck a meeting of leaders of the terror group at a base near the city of Idlib on Saturday, just hours after a ceasefire brokered by Russia ended months of bombardment of the last bastion of anti-regime fighters.

“This operation targeted al-qaeda in Syria leaders responsible for attacks targeting US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians,” said a spokesman for US Central Command, adding that the strike would “degrade their ability to conduct further attacks and destabilise the region”.

“North-west Syria remains a safe haven where [al-qaeda] leaders actively co-ordinate terrorist activities throughout the region and in the West,” the spokesman said.

But Russia, one of the key power brokers in Syria, accused the US of “endangering” a hard-won ceasefire that was scarcely a day old. Citing the Russian defence ministry, the Tass news agency said the US had failed to warn Russia or Turkey before the strikes.

Idlib is the last holdout for Syria’s armed resistance. Over recent years, those who could not agree surrender deals, or those whom the government of Bashar al-assad has no interest in allowing into regime-controlled areas, have been corralled into the northwestern corner of the country.

Members of Hayat Tahrir al-sham, al-qaeda’s Syrian offshoot, their allies and other anti-government groups, along with civilians including fleeing women and children, are among those slowly being swept north.

Whether al-qaeda or other groups retaliate for the strike will determine the longevity of the ceasefire and the length of respite granted to the inhabitants of Idlib, a city of three million.

The Uk-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said more than 950 civilians had been killed in Idlib since the end of April.

More than 400,000 people have fled, according to the UN, but activists say the number on the move is far higher, although few have anywhere left to go.