"With the use of technology and" jihadmobiles ": militants in Syria carry out attacks on government positions

The government troops of Syria since the evening of May 21 reflect the attack of militants "Hayat Tahrir Ash-Sham" * from the de-escalation zone in Idlib. This was reported in the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“From the evening of May 21, militants of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group (Khayat Tahrir Ash-Sham) in the southern part of the Idlib de-escalation zone carry out massive attacks on the positions of government forces on the Habit-Kafr-Nbud and Kafr-Zait-Hamamiyat s lines using armored vehicles, multiple rocket launchers, and jihad mobiles, the defense ministry said.

It is noted that only in the morning of May 22, three massive attacks on Kafr Nbud were repelled.

“It was only in the morning of May 22 that Syrian government troops repulsed already 3 massive attacks by militants of Jhabhat al-Nusra on the settlement of Kafr Nbud, in which up to 500 militants participated, 7 tanks, 4 infantry fighting vehicles, about 30 pickups with heavy machine guns and 2 cars with explosives, driven by suicide bombers, "- stressed in the Ministry of Defense.

Another 200 terrorists with the support of four infantry fighting vehicles, four tanks and four pickups with heavy weapons launched an attack on Khairat.

In total, 150 militants, three tanks, more than 20 pick-up trucks and two jihad mobiles were eliminated when repelling these attacks. It is especially noted that the terrorists made an unsuccessful attempt to fire the Russian airbase Hmeimim.

“On May 22, the militants carried out 17 launches of multiple rocket launcher systems from the Idlib de-escalation zone in the direction of the Russian Khmeimim airbase. 8 rockets launched by militants to the airbase is not reached. The remaining 9 rockets of terrorists were destroyed by the air defense forces on duty at the Russian air base, ”they concluded.

Recall, on May 18, government forces unilaterally ceased firing. Despite this, the positions of the Damascus forces remained under fire.

"Since May 18, 13 cases of violation of the cessation of hostilities have been recorded, including with the use of mortars and multiple launch rocket systems prohibited by Astana accords of 2017 and the Sochi agreements of 2018 for deployment in the demilitarized zone," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. .

Idlib de-escalation zone

Moscow and Ankara maintain regular contacts between each other on the peace process both in Idlib and in Syria as a whole.

Thus, the ministers of defense of Russia and Turkey, Sergei Shoigu and Hulusi Akar, respectively, held a telephone conversation on May 20 to reduce the escalation in Idlib.

"Minister Acar discussed with his Russian counterpart Shoigu regional security issues in the context of the Sochi agreements, especially the recent events in the Syrian province of Idlib and measures to reduce tensions in this zone," the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The settlement in Idlib is seriously complicated by the large number of parties inside the de-escalation zone, noted Vladimir Avatkov, a senior employee of the IMEMO RAN. Thus, in the region, in addition to terrorists, there are also representatives of the armed opposition, Kurdish groups and other organizations and parties to the conflict.

“The main problem in this context is the large number of state and non-state actors that are present in this region. There are disagreements between them, and at the level of interaction with the outside worlds it is very difficult to separate the moderate from the unlimited, ”he told RT.

Avatkov stressed that Ankara also pursues its own goals regarding the Kurds. Turkey considers Kurdish armed groups to be terrorist, and therefore the conflict has been going on for a long time between the parties.

“Turkey puts forward its own conditions regarding the location of Kurdish groups in this region and asks that they not intervene as much as possible in the process, based on the fact that she can do everything herself. In the context of Turkey’s foreign policy activities, it’s probably time for her to think not only about her rights, but also about the duties of maintaining peace, ”the expert emphasized.

Western participation

It has been repeatedly noted in Russia that the position of Western countries is hindering the peace process in Idlib.

“The United States and its allies are consistently pursuing a policy of resolving the Syrian crisis solely with the aim of ensuring their long-term presence in Syria,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a comment on May 3. “For this, part of the separatist-minded Kurdish militias are involved, who at one time played a certain role in the fight against ISIS **, and are currently seeking, with the support of the United States, to create a“ quasi-public entity ”on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.”

On May 11, Russia was forced to block the statement of the UN Security Council on Idlib, since it distorted the real state of affairs in the Arab Republic.

“In Syria, we did not miss and blocked the press elements prepared by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait, the meaning of which was to distort the situation in Idlib,” said Vladimir Safronkov, Russian deputy representative at the UN.

Note that on May 17, Russia warned members of the UN Security Council about a provocation of terrorists in Syria using chemical weapons. According to the idea of ​​the militants, Russian videoconferencing forces are going to blame for the mock attack.

However, the United States and its allies do not take into account the information provided by the Russian side, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

“We have information about constantly preparing provocations by militants and terrorists using chemicals. Our American colleagues and their allies are not defiantly responding to this information, ”he said on Wednesday, May 22.

Moreover, the United States stated that Damascus allegedly could, on May 19, launch an attack using chemical weapons. However, the United States Special Representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, acknowledged that Washington could not confirm this information.

“We follow this very carefully - as well as reports of the use of chemical weapons. We cannot confirm them yet. However, we are watching this, ”he said.

The main task of Western countries in Syria - the overthrow of the legitimate president Bashar al-Assad, or the collapse of the Arab republic into separate states - has remained unchanged since the beginning of the conflict in this country, said Boris Dolgov, leading researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies.

“The main goal of the United States and its allies is the elimination of the objectionable Assad. Although now it is not openly said, but this goal remains. Either the dismemberment of Syria, which we partially observe when the American base is established in Et-Tanf and a part of the territory of Syria is controlled either by pro-American groups, the Syrian opposition, Kurdish formations, ”he told RT.

* “Khayat Tahrir ash-Sham” (“Jabhat Fath ash-Sham”, “Front an-Nusra”, “Jabhat an-Nusra”) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014

** “Islamic State” (IG) - the organization is recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 29, 2014.