Idlib battles: a military operation of the opposition with Turkish cover and a new round of Turkish-Russian talks in Ankara

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that nine people were killed in Russian air strikes on the town of Abyan in the western countryside of Aleppo, bringing the death toll from the strikes in the area during the past 24 hours to 27, while the Syrian opposition started a military operation against the regime forces with Turkish artillery cover.

The correspondent pointed out that the Russian and Syrian raids coincided with clashes between the armed opposition forces and the regime forces that are trying to advance on the new Aleppo, Zurba, and ICARDA fronts, and other locations in western and southern Aleppo countryside.

The Al-Jazeera correspondent also reported that six people were killed and others injured in an explosion in the city of Afrin in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

And information about the explosion occurred because of a car bomb in the middle of the street, and flames were seen rising, while ambulances rushed to the site to help the injured.

In another development, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the Syrian opposition started a military operation against the regime forces east of Idlib, with the cover of Turkish artillery, while dead and wounded were killed in Russian air strikes in the western countryside of Aleppo.

Al-Jazeera correspondent explained that the National Front for the Liberation of Syria started the military operation, while Turkish army artillery shelled the regime forces in and around the city of Saraqib.

The intensification of the battles comes with the advance of the regime forces in the area subject to the de-escalation agreement, and after the entry of Turkish reinforcements into the 12-point Turkish observation points in the Idlib area.

Turkish move
In conjunction with the military escalation of the regime forces with Russian support in Idlib and its seizure of cities and villages within the de-escalation zone, a new round of Turkish-Russian talks will be held in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on the situation in Idlib province.

The Turkish delegation is headed by Sadat Onal, Assistant Foreign Minister, and the delegation includes officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, the Intelligence Service and the Chief of Staff, while the Russian delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin and Alexander Lavroviev, the Russian President's special envoy to Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşo أوlu said that in the absence of a rapprochement over Idlib during the talks scheduled today with the Russians, the matter would be submitted to Turkish Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

The Turkish minister added that what he described as the hostile attacks of the Syrian regime must be stopped.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has warned that his country has alternative plans in case the parties do not abide by the agreements on Idlib as the last bastion of the opposition, stressing that Ankara will do what is necessary if the regime forces do not withdraw from the de-escalation areas at the end of this month.

It is noteworthy that the Turkish president had previously given Damascus until the end of this month to withdraw from the Turkish points, and urged Russia to persuade the Assad regime to stop its military operation in Idlib.