Renewed tension in Syria. Syrian regime forces surrounded a Turkish observation post in Idleb province in the northwest of the country on Monday (December 23rd) after regaining ground in recent days from jihadists and rebels in the region, l said. '' Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).
"The regime forces surrounded the Turkish observation post of Al-Surman after having reconquered several cities and villages" near the key city of Maaret al-Noomane, in the south-east of the province of Idleb, said the director of the NGO Rami Abdel Rahmane.
The Turkish army is deployed to twelve observation posts in the Idleb region under an agreement concluded in September 2018 between Moscow, a Syrian regime ally, and Ankara, a sponsor of the rebels, to avoid a power offensive from Damascus against the region.
>> Read also: In Syria, fighting intensifies in the Idleb region, tens of thousands of displaced people
A "demilitarized zone"
The agreement provided for the establishment of a "demilitarized zone", 15 to 20 kilometers wide, to separate government areas from rebel and jihadist territories, in the province of Idleb, but also the regions neighboring Aleppo. , Hama and Lattaquié.
The agreement offered some respite to the ultimate great rebel and jihadist stronghold in Syria, dominated by Hayat Tahrir al-Cham (HTS, former branch of Al-Qaeda) and home to three million people. But he did not prevent a major offensive by the Syrian army, supported by the Russian aviation, between the end of April and the end of August in the region, during which a thousand civilians were killed according to the OSDH and 400,000 displaced people according to the UN.
Over 280 civilians dead
Despite a ceasefire announced in late August by Moscow, raids have intensified in recent weeks, resulting in the displacement of tens of thousands of civilians. More than 280 civilians have also died since that date.
>> Read also: War in Syria: Russia vetoed humanitarian aid deemed "obsolete"
Since Thursday, regime forces have been advancing on the ground and have regained control of dozens of towns and villages around the key town of Maaret al-Noomane, according to the OSDH. The localities of Jarjanaz and Al-Surman are among those taken over Monday by the regime, according to the NGO.
Al-Surman's Turkish observation post is the second to be surrounded by regime forces in a few months: since August, that of the locality of Morek, in the north of Hama province, has been surrounded and forces are still there.
With AFP
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