Idlib assault plans
Last big rebel enclave in Syria a ‘festering abscess’
BEIRUT: Syrian Government forces are preparing a phased offensive in the northwestern province of Idlib and surrounding areas, the last big rebel enclave, a source close to Damascus reported yesterday.
Russia, President Bashar alAssad’s main backer from outside the region, said on Wednesday militants there must be liquidated and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described them as ‘‘a festering abscess’’.
The offensive would initially target southern and western parts of the insurgent territory, but not yet Idlib city, said the source, an official in the regional alliance backing Assad.
‘‘The final touches for the first stage will be completed in the coming hours,’’ the official added, without saying when it would start.
Negotiations over the offensive were continuing between Russia and Turkey, as well as with Iran, which also supported Damascus in the war, the official said.
At the US State Department, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said there were indications that Syrian forces were preparing an offensive on Idlib. She said Washington’s new representative for Syria raised concerns, including the potential use of chemical weapons, with Russian ambassador to the US .
Insurgents now hold only the
territory in and around Idlib, as well as a neighbouring rebel area in which opposition authorities are backed by Turkish armour and money, and a patch of desert around a US military camp in the south.
A major offensive in the Idlib area, where displaced people already make up half the population, risked forcing another 700,000 Syrians from their homes, the United Nations said.
It also risks raising tensions with Turkey, whose army established a ring of observation posts around the rebel territory last year under a ‘‘deescalation’’ deal with Russia and Iran.
The first phase of the offensive would include the town of Jisr alShughour and the alGhab plain on the western side of the rebel territory, and the towns of alLatamenah, Khan Sheikhoun and Maarat alNuman in its south, the official said.
Taking those areas would bring Assad close to regaining control over highways running from Aleppo to Hama and Latakia, two of Syria’s most important prewar roads.
In recent weeks, the Syrian military has dropped leaflets over Idlib province urging people to surrender, opened a route for civilians to cross into government territory and, according to a war monitor, sent more reinforcements to the front. It has stepped up airstrikes and shelling near the front lines, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.
News agencies also reported a larger buildup of cruise missilearmed Russian warships, including frigates and two submarines in the Mediterranean nearby.