MAARET AL-NOMAN,Syria: A Turkish military convoy crossed into northwest Syria on Monday, itspath blocked by advancing regime troops as tensions soared between Damascus andAnkara. Rebel-backer Turkey said its forces were targeted by an air strike,while the Syrian regime accused Turkish forces of backing"terrorists". The convoy had entered Idlib province before headingtowards a key town where Russian-backed regime forces are waging a fiercebattle to retake the area from jihadists and rebels.
Turkey claimed anair strike hit its convoy, killing three civilians, though a war monitor said aRussian air raid took the lives of three rebels in the surrounding area.Russian President Vladimir Putin told French President Emmanuel Macronyesterday that Moscow supports the Syrian army's offensive against"terrorists" in the northern province of Idlib. "We support theefforts of the Syrian army... to end these terrorist threats" in Idlib, Putinsaid after Macron urged respect for a ceasefire in Idlib.
After eight yearsof civil war, the jihadist-run region on the border with Turkey is the lastmajor stronghold of opposition to President Bashar Al-Assad's regime. Theregion of some three million people was supposed to be protected by aTurkish-Russian buffer zone deal signed last year, but regime and Russianforces have upped their deadly bombardment there since late April.
After days ofinching forward, Russian-backed regime ground forces on Sunday entered the keytown of Khan Sheikhun in the south of the stronghold. Yesterday afternoon, anew loyalist advance saw pro-Damascus fighters take control part of the highwaynorth of Khan Sheikhun, effectively blocking the Turkish military convoy fromcontinuing south. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-basedmonitor with a network of contacts in Syria, said this would stop the convoyever reaching a Turkish monitoring post south of Khan Sheikhun.
Earlier in theafternoon, an AFP correspondent saw the convoy stop on the Aleppo-Damascushighway in the village of Maar Hattat, just north of Khan Sheikhun. Analystssay regime forces want to retake the key road that connects Damascus with thenorthern city of Aleppo, both of which they control.
Earlier, an AFPcorrespondent saw a military convoy of around 50 armored vehicles includingpersonnel carriers and at least five tanks travelling southwards along thehighway. The Observatory reported Syrian and Russian air strikes aimed athindering the convoy's advance. Turkey's defense ministry "strongly"condemned the attack, saying regime operations were "in violation of theexisting memorandums and agreements with the Russian Federation".
The Damascusregime meanwhile denounced the convoy's crossing from Turkey. "Turkishvehicles loaded with munitions... are heading towards Khan Sheikhun to help theterrorists," a foreign ministry source said, using the regime's blanketterm for rebels and jihadists. This confirmed "the support provided by theTurkish regime to terrorist groups," state news agency SANA reported thesource as saying.
Yesterdaymorning, a Russian air strike hit the rebel vehicle leading the convoy justoutside Maaret Al-Noman, 15 km north of Khan Sheikhun, killing a Turkish-backedfighter from the Faylaq al-Sham group, the Observatory said. It also killed twoother opposition fighters, it added. After the convoy entered the town, Russianand Syrian warplanes targeted the area in an apparent "attempt to preventthe convoy from advancing", Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
On Sunday,pro-regime forces backed by Russian air strikes took control of Khan Sheikhun'snorthwestern outskirts. Fighting continues to the east and west of the town,the Observatory says. The seizure of Khan Sheikhun and territory further eastwould encircle a patch of countryside to its south, including the town of Morekwhere the Turkish observation post is situated.
The Turkish armyearlier said the convoy was heading towards Morek. Analyst Nawar Oliver saidthe latest developments in Khan Sheikhun were likely linked to a"disagreement" between both signatories. He said Turkey had likelysent the convoy to avoid its troops being "threatened" or placed"at the mercy of the regime and Russia". It may have also taken a"decision to protect Khan Sheikhun", he said.
Since late April,the regime and Russia have upped their bombardment of the Idlib region, killingmore than 860 civilians. More than 400,000 people have fled their homes, theUnited Nations says. Jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Syria's formerAl-Qaeda affiliate, controls most of Idlib province as well as parts of theneighboring provinces of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia. Syria's war has killed morethan 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011. - AFP