Alwaght- Russian Air force has a launch large-scale airstrikes on Tuesday against militants and terrorists in Syria's Idlib province, ignoring US warnings.
Al MasdarNews cited a military source as saying that at least ten Russian Sukhoi jets launched dozens of airstrikes over the southern and western parts of the Idlib province the last major stronghold of the foreign-backed terrorists in the war-torn country.
According to the Lebanon-based news portal, Russian Air Force specifically targeted the Jisr Al-Shughour District, including the towns of Al-Shughur, Mahambel, Basnqoul, Zayzooun, Ziyarah, Jadariyah, Kafrdeen, Al-Sahn, Saraseef, and dozen others.
A pro-militant Syrian war monitor also said Russian air strikes had resumed against insurgents in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on Tuesday after several weeks.
The airstrikes come while, reports suggest Syrian army is making final preparations for a ground offensive to end terrorists’ control over Lattakia’s northeastern suburbs and the heights overlooking the Jisr Al-Shughur town in Idlib province
Idlib, located in the northwestern border with Turkey, was seized in May 2015 by an alliance of armed groups led by Jaysh al-Fatah, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda terrorist group. The battleground equations changes have opened the hands of the Syrian Arab Army to prepare for a huge offensive against the terrorists’ last safe haven.
While the Syrian war is heading to its end as the central government, backed by its allies, has now retaken a majority of the territories from the terrorist groups, the anti-Damascus regional and international actors, who find their ambitious plans to redraw a new order in the West Asia region through splitting Syria into small regions fully failed, are desperately struggling to hamper Syrian army's final push to uproot terrorist from the country.
US President Donald Trump on Monday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies Iran and Russia not to attack Idlib province, using humanitarian concerns as an excuse.
"The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. Don’t let that happen!" Trump wrote in a tweet.
The Kremlin dismissed Trump's warning to Syria, saying on Tuesday the area was a "nest of terrorists".
"Just to speak out with some warnings, without taking into account the very dangerous, negative potential for the whole situation in Syria, is probably not a full, comprehensive approach," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia has repeatedly warned against Syrian militants false flag gas attack in Idlib, saying they are preparing a chemical attack that will be used to justify a Western strike against Syrian troops.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last Tuesday that the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee is preparing the attack in the northern Idlib province, and that it would be filmed by first-responders known as the White Helmets, who Russia has accused of fabricating past attacks.
Russia's Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov also touched on recent statements by US National Security Advisor John Bolton – in which he threatened to bomb Syria – could be interpreted as an implicit confirmation of such airstrikes. On August 22, Bolton stated that “... if the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons, we will respond very strongly and they really ought to think about this a long time."
In April, the US, UK and France unleashed a bombing campaign on Syria. The airstrikes were carried out in response to an alleged gas attack in Douma on April 7, which the West blamed on Bashar Assad’s government. The operation started hours before a team from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was due to reach the city.
Back then, Syrian defenses were scrambled to repel some 103 cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles launched at civilian and military targets by the Western trio. It managed to intercept at least 71 of them, the Russian Defense Ministry said at the time.
US strikes won't stop Idlib operation
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told US cannot bully Damascus to abdomen Idlib liberation operations by threatening the nation with airstrikes.
“The intended aggression won’t affect our people’s morale nor will it sway our military plans to liberate Idlib,” the Syrian top diplomat told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
“This is not the first time that the United States, Great Britain and France have cooked up a scheme for a chemical weapons incident. It happened earlier in the Damascus suburb of Douma, when these countries decided not to wait for the results of an international investigation and conducted a trilateral strike on Syria. However, the Syrian people manned up to and scoffed off that aggression. They celebrated as they watched Syrian rockets down missiles launched by the aggressors,” Muallem pointed out.
According to him, the entire international community is already aware of the flimsy excuse for the imminent aggression against Syria.
“They [the US and its allies] are providing the White Helmets with tools to stage a false flag chemical weapons incident and shoot it in a village in the Idlib province,” the Syrian top diplomat said, adding, “this video footage is planned to be used as an excuse for a future aggression.”
