Syrian army enters last rebelheld town
BEIRUT: Russianled Syrian government forces entered Saraqeb town in northwestern Idlib province yesterday in the latest push to capture the last rebel stronghold, state media said.
President Bashar alAssad’s swift military advance through Idlib province has caused an exodus of civilians towards Turkey’s border in the past two weeks, risking a military confrontation with Turkey, whose leader has threatened to drive the Syrian forces back.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday Ankara expected Russia to immediately stop the government attacks, which killed eight Turkish military personnel on Tuesday and prompted Turkish forces to strike back.
‘‘We conveyed our determination to our Russian counterparts,’’ he said, adding that Ankara was determined to stem the ‘‘humanitarian drama’’ in
Idlib that Turkey says has displaced nearly 1 million people.
Syrian forces, backed by Russian air strikes, had on Thursday encircled and entered Saraqeb, 15km east of Idlib city, the Britishbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a report corroborated by witnesses.
The town lies at the junction of two main roads that Assad seeks to control to regain Idlib province, the last rebel bastion in the nearly nineyearlong civil war.
Rebel fighters ‘‘managed to push back government forces from most of Saraqeb in an attack from the northern part of the town that coincided with Turkish shelling against advancing government forces’’, the Observatory said. Witnesses said government forces came under shelling from Turkish observation posts in the area.
The fighting, taking place despite a January 12 ceasefire deal between Turkey and Russia, disrupted fragile cooperation between the two countries that support opposing sides in the conflict.
The Kremlin said yesterday militants in Turkey’s ‘‘zone of responsibility’’ in Idlib province were continuing to attack Syrian government forces and Russian military infrastructure.
It also said some of its troops had been killed in the attacks, its first confirmation of casualties in the current round of fighting. — Reuters