Jihadists and rebels were forced on Tuesday (August 20th) to withdraw from key areas of the Idleb region in northwestern Syria in the face of the advance of Moscow-backed regime troops. According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (OSDH), anti-Assad groups have left the strategic city of Khan Cheikhoun in Idleb province, as well as sectors in the north of the neighboring province of Hama.

Most of Idleb Province and parts of the neighboring provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia still escape the control of Bashar al-Assad after eight years of conflict, despite the reconquest of most of the territory by diet.

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This region, dominated by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a former Syrian branch of al-Qaida, and home to rebel groups, has been targeted since the end of April for almost daily bombings of Damascus and its capital. Russian ally, who killed more than 880 civilians, still according to the OSDH.

Twelve civilians, including three children, were killed on Tuesday in raids against several localities in south-east Idleb, reports the London-based NGO. Among them, nine civilians died in Russian strikes.

Rebels evoke "redeployment"

A spokesman for HTS denied in a statement on Telegram the withdrawal of the group from northern Hama, referring to a "repositioning" of fighters after intense bombing of the regime.

Same story on the side of the National Liberation Front (FNL), a coalition of several pro-Ankara rebel groups, which "categorically denied" in a statement the "rumors" of a withdrawal, evoking a tactical "redeployment" in order to "continue the resistance".

The withdrawal of the rebels and jihadists comes after the regime's forces seized half of Khan Sheikhoun and managed to block the Aleppo-Damascus highway ahead of the arrival of a Turkish military convoy.

"Ankara's clear support for terrorists"

A major Turkish observation post in the city of Morek, about ten kilometers south of Khan Sheikhoun, is now surrounded by regime forces and Turkish soldiers can only retreat through government-controlled roads. told AFP the director of the OSDH, Rami Abdel Rahmane. But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has ruled out "for the moment" any withdrawal of Morek, under agreements with Moscow.

On Monday, Turkey dispatched a military convoy of about 50 vehicles after the entry of pro-regime forces into Khan Cheikhoun. But it had to stop after Russian and Syrian bombings that killed three civilians, according to Ankara, who "strongly" condemned the attack, urging Tuesday Damascus not to "play with fire".

The Syrian president countered by saying that "the latest fighting in Idleb revealed (...) the clear and unlimited support of Ankara to terrorists", during the visit of a Russian delegation in Damascus. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned of further attacks by jihadists against "civilians" and the Russian base in Hmeimim, near Latakia. "We warned our Turkish colleagues that we would respond," the foreign minister added at a press conference in Russia.

With AFP