There are several reports about the approaching date of attack by the Syrian regime forces on Idlib province in the northwest of the country to end the control of the armed opposition.
Amid the support and support of parties to Assad’s attack on Idlib, other parties reject the attack, warning of its consequences, which could lead to humanitarian and political crises
Here are eight quick information about Idlib province and the battle ahead.
1- Idlib is located in northwestern Syria, home to about 3 million people, of whom 1.2 million are displaced by the war.
2- Since September 2011, Idlib witnessed clashes between the newly formed Free Army and the regular forces. However, in 2012 the forces of the regime were able to restore the center of the province with its capital Idlib.
Between June 2012 and April 2013, a series of battles resulted in the control of the Free Army on some areas, but in March 2015 the opposition Front managed to control the city of Idlib and the expulsion of Hezbollah forces stationed there.
On 3 April 2017, the city of Khan Sheikhan in the governorate witnessed one of the largest deadly chemical attacks in Syria, killing 74 people and injuring 557.
3- The Syrian regime began throwing leaflets at parts of Idlib, controlled by the opposition, at the beginning of August, calling on the people to cooperate with the regular army to maintain their security.
The Syrian regime is launching an attack on Idlib confined to bombing the air with the support of Iran and Russia in order to end the presence of the opposition represented by the Syrian Liberation Front formerly the Nasra Front.
4-System forces are preparing for a phased attack in Idlib province and surrounding areas in the northwest
According to Syrian government sources, the attack will initially target the southern and western parts of the territory controlled by the opposition, not the city of Idlib itself.
5-Turkey is concerned about the attack on Idlib, first because the loss of Turkey’s allies to Idlib is a threat to the areas it controlled during the olive branch and the Euphrates Shield
On the other hand, if the Syrian regime controls the city, Turkey will receive a new wave of displaced people estimated at hundreds of thousands, while Ankara plans to return thousands of Syrian refugees to the safe areas inside Syria.
6-The Syrian Democratic Forces, which are predominantly Kurdish, announced their intention to participate in the battle of Idlib alongside the Syrian regime. However, they denied this later, while reaffirming their commitment to their programs and plans to complete the military operations they began to control the northern countryside of Deir al-zor.
7-The Kremlin described Idlib as a hotbed of terrorists and said the situation would not be good
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Piskov said the planned Russian naval exercises in the Mediterranean were justified by the situation in Idlib
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said a few days ago that it was necessary to get rid of the “sore wound” in Idlib.
The attack on Idlib coincides with naval exercises involving more than 25 warships, submarines and 30 aircraft, including fighter jets and strategic bombers, and will be held from September 1 to 8, and will include anti-aircraft, submarine and mine drills
8-US State Department spokeswoman Heather Naort on Thursday expressed US concern over a possible systematic attack with chemical weapons on Idlib and escalating violence there, endangering the lives of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
-So far there are no indications of a ground attack on Idlib. The battle may be limited to the villages and cities surrounding the Aleppo-Latakia road to control it.
-With the knowledge that more than 75 thousand fighters from the armed opposition are now ready to face any military action on Idlib. Because this battle will be a battle of fate. There is no other place for the opposition now Sawa Idlib.
– There has been talk of a possible chemical attack in Idlib.
Where the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that foreign experts arrived in the province of Idlib, northern Syria, to organize what it called a “chemical attack”, using munitions filled with chlorine in the town of Kafr Zeita, northwest of the city of Hama
The spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, General Igor Konashnikov, quoted the Russian Center for Reconciliation as saying that the attack on the use of toxic materials will be carried out over the next two days by rocket launchers on the residential complex in Kafr Zeita, located 6 kilometers south of the city of Habit
It is alleged that “in Kafr Zita, a group of Syrians who were transferred from the north to participate in the play of chemical munitions and barrels of the Syrian regime, providing medical assistance by fake White Helmets rescuers, and filming photographic reports for publication in English-language media and the media in the Middle East, “he said.
Russia has repeatedly replicated such allegations before any possible use by the Syrian regime for chemical weapons, in an attempt to accuse the opposition at times of provoking the attack or of standing behind it, if it is proven conclusively that the use of chemical weapons.
