The Syrian army announced yesterday the liberation of the strategic city of Maarat al-Numan in northwestern Syria, which was controlled by armed factions, after weeks of military operations.
Ma`rat al-Numan, the second largest city of Idlib governorate, is located on the international road that links the city of Aleppo to the capital, Damascus, and passes through the most prominent Syrian cities from Hama and Homs to the southern border with Jordan.
The Syrian army said in a statement broadcast on state television: "In the past few days, our forces have been able to eliminate terrorism in many villages and towns." He affirmed, "The pursuit of the rest of the armed organizations until the entire Syrian soil is cleared of terrorism in all its names."
Four months ago, the population of Maarat al-Numan reached 150,000, but today it is almost empty due to the waves of displacement that it witnessed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Syrian army entered Ma`rat al-Numan, the day before yesterday, after completely encircling it, and the withdrawal of the largest part of the faction's fighters from it. The battles over the past few days have resulted in the killing of 168 militants, and 147 members of the Syrian army, according to the observatory.
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Moscow of not respecting the agreements concluded between them on Idlib, and he said, according to what the official Anatolia News Agency reported: “With Russia we concluded these agreements, if Russia does not respect these agreements, then we will do the same, unfortunately at the time "The current Russia does not respect it."
Turkey, which has 12 observation posts in Idlib, warned the day before yesterday that it would respond to any threat to these points, three of which are now surrounded by the Syrian army.
The escalation that began last December prompted 358,000 people to move from northwestern Syria to safer areas, and the battles continued yesterday, in the south of Aleppo Governorate.