Syria clashes and air strikes kill 35 fighters, 10 civilians

At least 10 civilians and 35 combatants, mostly pro-regime forces, were killed on Saturday in clashes and air strikes that erupted at dawn in northwestern Syria, a war monitor said.

The flare-up came as Russian-backed regime forces tried to retake two villages seized by militants and allied rebels earlier this month, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“Since this morning, the Syrian regime and allied fighters have launched five failed attempts to regain control of Jibine and Tal Maleh in northwestern Hama province,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Syrian regime air strikes killed nine militants and rebel fighters, the war monitor said.

Ensuing clashes in the north of Hama province left 26 pro-regime forces dead, including eight who were killed in a mine explosion, the Observatory said.

In neighbouring Idlib, regime air strikes killed 10 civilians, including three children, the Observatory said.

The strikes hit the towns of Maaret Al Numan and Al Bara as well as the village of Al Ftira, according to the war monitor.

The Idlib region of some three million people is supposed to be protected from a massive regime offensive by a buffer zone deal that Russia and Turkey signed in September.

But it was never fully implemented, as militants refused to withdraw from a planned demilitarised zone.

In January, the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham alliance led by Syria’s former Al Qaeda affiliate extended its administrative control over the region, which includes most of Idlib province as well as adjacent slivers of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces.

The Syrian government and Russia have upped their bombardment of the region since late April, killing nearly 400 civilians, according to the Observatory.

Turkey said on Friday that it did not accept Russia’s “excuse” that it had no ability to stop the Syrian regime’s continued bombardments in the last rebel bastion of Idlib.

“In Syria, who are the regime’s guarantors? Russia and Iran,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told state news agency Anadolu in a televised interview.

“Thus we do not accept the excuse that ‘We cannot make the regime listen to us,’” he said.

Syria’s war has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.

Russia launched a military intervention in support of the regime in 2015, helping its forces reclaim large parts of the country from opposition fighters and militants.

Recently, regime and Russian air strikes and shelling killed at least 28 people including seven civilians in embattled northwest Syria.

The civilians were killed in regime air strikes and shelling on the south of Idlib and the north of Hama province.

Russian and regime air strikes also killed 21 extremists and militant fighters in the same region the same day, the Britain-based monitor added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday said a ceasefire had not been fully secured in Idlib, despite an announcement by Moscow.

“We are working hard with Russia to stop these attacks. It is not possible to say a complete ceasefire has been secured,” Cavusoglu told a press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Ankara.

Cavusoglu said there were “serious and sincere efforts” with Moscow to stop the violence, but said a full cessation had not been realised.

He also confirmed an earlier report that Syrian government forces had launched mortar attacks on a Turkish observation post in Idlib, injuring three soldiers.

“If the regime continues these attacks, we will do what is necessary,” Cavusoglu added.

The Idlib region of some three million people is supposed to be protected from a massive regime offensive by a buffer zone deal that Russia and Turkey signed in September.

But it was never fully implemented, as extremists refused to withdraw from a planned demilitarised zone.

In January, the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham alliance led by Syria’s former Al Qaeda affiliate extended its administrative control over the region, which includes most of Idlib province as well as adjacent slivers of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces.

Agencies