The Syrian army has firmly taken control of the southern part of the Idlib province after an offensive lasting several days. Government forces have captured about sixty towns and villages from the rebels.
The rebels, with support from Turkish troops, have reportedly recaptured the strategically located town of Saraqeb from the army, according to several difficult-to-verify sources.
The town of Saraqeb lies at the crossroads of two highways. One connects the two main cities, Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo. The other road runs from eastern Syria to the western coast on the Mediterranean Sea.
Turkey is making every effort to thwart the Syrian advance in the Idlib province. Damascus, however, is assured of support from Russia. The Syrian army’s advance in the nearby province of Idlib continues unabated. It threatens to become a massacre of the highest order. Due to heavy fighting, nearly one million people in the region have fled, according to the UN. Reports from the area indicate Syrian troops have advanced further south of the city of Idlib, under cover of Russian airstrikes.
Idlib is practically the last piece of Syrian territory not (yet?) back under the control of the government army of Syrian President Assad. If his troops succeed in driving the rebels out of Idlib, the uprising that started in 2014 against President Assad will be practically defeated and have amounted to nothing. For a long time, it seemed that various armed Syrian groups could overthrow the president’s regime. But after Russia provided military support to Assad, the rebels lost the upper hand.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports that the Turkish army has established four new military posts in the areas of Ehsim, Kansafrah, Kansafrah and Al-Bara in the southern countryside of Idlib, amid an ongoing advance of regime forces in the region. Furthermore, a Turkish military convoy consisting of more than 100 vehicles entered Syrian territory last night en route to the area of Jabal al-Zawiya.
Meanwhile, Russia and Turkey are preparing discussions on how to de-escalate the fighting in the Idlib province in Syria, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday.
"Another series of consultations, which we hope will lead us to an agreement on how to ensure this is indeed a de-escalation zone and that terrorists do not operate there, is now being prepared," Lavrov said during a joint press conference on Monday.