Jihadists and allied rebels withdrew from a key area of northwestern Syria Tuesday, a war monitor says, as President Bashar Assad’s forces press an offensive against the jihadist-run Idlib region.
Turkey has warned Damascus “not to play with fire” a day after a Syrian regime air strike sought to deter a new Turkish military convoy from entering the area.
After eight years of civil war, the Idlib region on the border with Turkey is the last major stronghold of opposition to Assad’s Russia-backed government. Since January, it has been administered by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance, which is led by jihadists from Syria’s former al-Qaeda affiliate.
Syrian government forces gather near the town of Khan Shaykhun in the southern countryside of the rebel-held Idlib province on August 18, 2019 (AFP)
The region of some three million people was supposed to be protected by a buffer zone deal signed last September by Moscow and rebel backer Ankara, but government and Russian forces have subjected it to heavy bombardment since late April, killing almost 880 civilians.
— AFP
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