DAMASCUS, May 3 (WNM staff/Newswires) -- Russian and Syrian airstrikes heavily targeted rebel-held areas in Idlib and Hama provinces in northwestern Syria on Friday, after Turkey failed to guarantee the security of the planned deescalation zone.
The airstrikes targeted the rebel positions in the southern countryside of Idlib and the northern countryside of Hama, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UK-based watchdog group said 93 barrel bombs were dropped on the rebel-held areas on Friday alone. It added that 34 Russian airstrikes targeted the rebel positions since midnight Friday.
According to the Etana-group, which is delivering intelligence to the US-led coalition, the Syrian Arab Army and Russia on May 1 had new heavy military campaign targeting areas of the demilitarised zone in rural north Hama an south Idlib, the group writes on Twitter.
Earlier this week, the pro-government al-Watan newspaper reported that the Syrian army had started sending reinforcements to Idlib as part of the preparation for a possible operation against the rebels. The report said the new development comes as Turkey has failed to live up to its pledges regarding the rebels' situation in Idlib, as de-escalation zones' deal reached between Turkey and Russia last September is falling apart.
The army started sending reinforcements to the countryside of Idlib and nearby Hama after the increase in the attacks by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front on military positions in the region. Turkey and Russia brokered a deal last September to impose a demilitarized zone in Idlib and its surrounding areas. However, violations are still being reported on an almost daily basis. Turkey was supposed to make sure that the ceasefire is observed, but obviously failed to live up to it's obligations under the agreement with Russia.
The extremist groups such as the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) refused to withdraw from the zone. On the contrary, the HTS expanded and controlled the entire Idlib area, which is the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.
The Syrian government has repeatedly said Idlib would inevitably return under the government control and the government's patience has limits.
According to Sabah Newspaper, he tU.S. has moved closer to Turkey's position in Syria and showing some flexibility in its approach to a planned safe zone to be established in northern parts of the country along the border with Turkey, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday.
In a private interview with broadcaster NTV at the IDEF'19 International Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul, Akar said he was happy to see that James Jeffrey, the U.S. special representative for Syria engagement and the special envoy for the anti-Daesh coalition, and his accompanying delegation had moved closer to Turkey's views regarding the safe zone and other issues in Syria.
"The U.S. has had a [negative] stance on this issue since the beginning. We see that there is some flexibility in that stance. Thus, we observe that they have moved closer to our views," Akar said, noting that he told Jeffrey and the U.S. delegation that while these talks are beneficial, they're also a serious loss of time and this provides terrorist opportunities risking the security of Turkey and its people; which should be dealt with as soon as possible.
Answering a question as to who will control the safe zone, Akar said that some U.S. officials came up with proposals that some anti-Daesh coalition, European or NATO forces could send troops but nobody had responded positively, adding that Turkey is the only county that could operate in the area.