Syria, Russia bombard rebel city before talks
UN Security Council sets meet as Turkey’s Erdogan fears massacre
BEIRUT/ANKARA— Russian and Syrian jets pounded a major rebel stronghold on Tuesday, days before Russia, Iran and Turkey are to meet in Tehran on Sept. 7.
Warplanes bombarded areas around Jisr al-Shughur at the western edge of Idlib, killing 13 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a rebel source.
The UN Security Council is set to discuss Idlib on Friday, Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations said.
Syrian goals
Syria has repeatedly said the defeat of rebels in the northwestern province was crucial to ending Syria’s seven-year civil war.
Since Russia’s entry into the war on his side in 2015, Assad and his other allies, Iran and a group of Shi’ite militias, have defeated the rebels in Aleppo, Eastern Ghouta and Daraa.
“Idlib is different from other regions because of the large numbers of fighters,” said Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar.
“However we cannot say there is no gateway to reconciliation... [But] until now, military action is more likely than reconciliation,” Haidar added.
Half of Idlib’s 3 million people have already fled there from their homes in other parts of Syria, according to the United Nations, and any offensive threatens more displacement.
Turkish worries
The attack could spark a wider confrontation with Turkey, which supports some rebel groups against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and fears an influx of refugees fleeing the fighting.
“The situation in Idlib is crucial for Turkey. A ruthless process has been going on there,” Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told the daily Hurriyet.
“God forbid, if this area is hailed by missiles there would be a serious massacre,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.
The newspaper reported that Turkish armed forces were reinforcing the Idlib border with M60 tanks, and Reuters television filmed a convoy heading towards the border.
US concerns
Even then, Erdogan said the situation in Idlib was better than that in the northern Syrian city of Manbij, controlled by Kurdish rebels supported by the United States.
“We are not at an ideal point (about Manbij). Unfortunately the agreement made is not going forward in the same direction as the initial discussions,” Erdogan said.
The bombardment in Idlib happened only hours after Washington warned Assad against using chemical weapons, promising a swift response if he did.
‘Human shields’
The Kremlin dismissed his comments on Tuesday, describing Idlib, where jihadist insurgent factions dominate, as a “nest of terrorism.”
“We know that Syria’s armed forces are preparing to resolve this problem,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
“Terrorist groups (in Idlib) have mixed with the people... They are using people as human shields,” said Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbass Araghchi.
Idlib’s dominant rebel faction is Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance spearheaded by the Nusra Front, though other groups are also present.
Last week the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the Nusra Front and al-Qaida had an estimated 10,000 fighters in Idlib.