By Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu, Esref Musa and Adham Kako
IDLIB, Syria/ANKARA, Turkey (AA) – Ignoring the Astana and Sochi agreements, Iran-backed forces of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime kept moving in rural areas of Idlib and Aleppo on Saturday.
After prolonged clashes since Friday night, 18 more villages and towns crossing the Idlib de-escalation zone, including Tal Bajir, Tal Qaratin, Abad, and Maryuda, were captured by regime forces with Russia’s air support in some regions.
Continuing to move forward, the regime forces also approached the Turkish observation post no. 6, established in the village of Tal al-Eis, Aleppo countryside.
Regime forces launched ground attack on settlements in de-escalation zone last November with Russia’s air support, and captured the Maarat Al-Numan and Saraqib cities.
Idlib has been a stronghold of opposition and anti-government armed groups since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
But more than 1,800 civilians there have been killed in attacks by regime and Russian forces since then, flouting both the 2018 cease-fire and a new one that started on Jan. 12
More than 1.7 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks over the past year.
Turkey remains the country with most refugees in the world, hosting more than 3.7 million Syrians since the start of the Syrian civil war.
*By Davut Demircan
