Alwaght- Hiding in their safe haven and last stronghold city of Idlib in western Syria since 2016, terrorist groups in recent weeks launched attacks on civilians in an attempt to break their security encirclement and to show that they still have the power to destabilize Syria. But the consequences were painful for them and the Syrian forces, assisted by the Russians, dealt fatal blows to them.
Since last Saturday, the Syrian and Russian fighter jets carried out airstrikes on several points of Jabal Al-Zawiyah. The bombed positions are held by Tahrir Al-Sham and Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) terrorist groups and were launching pads of attacks on northern Latakia and Idlib suburbs.
Headquarters of Tahrir Al-Sham and its allies in the so-called Fath al-Mobin command center in Eriha in south of Idlib were also bombed by Russian warplanes.
Furthermore, Russian jets raided headquarters and weapons and ammunition depots of the terrorist groups in Idlib and Lattakia, destroying 12 storehouses and buildings.
According to the reports, the Russian bombers also completely destroyed a terrorist military base located on the hills near Najeeh town in the outskirts of Idlib. The base was reportedly used by Tahrir Al-Sham to launch drone attacks.
Also, the Syrian and Russian air forces targeted the vehicles the Takfiris used to flee after targeting the positions of the Syrian army. Terrorists affiliated with TIP had carried out attacks in Jabal Bu Ali in eastern suburbs of Latakia.
The Syrian attacks were mainly with artillery and targeted several weapons storehouses belonging to terrorists, killing a number of terrorist militias. Still, there is no accurate figure how many of them died.
The reconnaissance aircraft of the Syrian army are also monitoring the movements of Tahrir Al-Sham and TIP near the towns of Badama, Najeeh and Al-Khader Hills in the western suburbs of Idlib in order to obtain detailed information about the terrorists' locations.
Obtaining accurate information from the Takfiri headquarters also prevents civilian casualties, and it is important for the Syrian government to save the lives of the local people. The only reason for stopping the operations of the Syrian army against the terrorist groups over the past few years has been the presence of more than 2 million civilians living in Idlib, whom the terrorists have always used as human shields to slow down the progress of the government and its allies’ forces.
Russian officials said the operation came in response to drone and mortar attacks of the terrorists on the civilians. Terrorist groups, most of them Tahrir Al-Sham, spread in Idlib and parts of its suburbs. The internationally-blacklisted terrorist group attacks safe neighborhoods of Hama outskirts, too, with rockets and drones, killing civilians and inflicting material damages on public utilities.
Tens of terrorists killed
Though there is no accurate number of terrorist casualties in the operations of the past few days, the Russians said that nearly 200 terrorists were killed in these attacks, but since the Takfiris have also suffered casualties in the Syrian army artillery attacks, and also because of the scale of airstrikes, the death toll of terrorists is higher than this.
On Sunday alone, 75 terrorists were reported killed in airstrikes, and 65 others were killed on Monday. The Syrian authorities have said that among the terrorists killed are a number of prominent commanders, including Abdul Karim Abu Dawood al-Turkistani and Saifullah Abu Abdal Haq al-Turkistani.
In addition to casualties, the recent operations have put the terrorists in dire straits. Tahrir Al-Sham has reportedly ordered evacuation of its other headquarters to avoid further tolls by the joint strikes. Local sources say all checkpoints and posts belonging to the group were evacuated.
Local sources in Idlib suburbs told Russian Sputnik news agency that Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham removed to another place 20 packages of substances of unknown composition from a post in western outskirts of Jisr Al-Shughur. The same sources said that the nature of containers, their shape, and their transportation seems to suggest they were for storage of poisonous gas and substances. They further said that the terrorists loaded the packages in equipped vehicles belonging to Western-backed White Helmets, a purported aid organization apparently helping terrorists. They handled them with care and used gloves to protect against dangerous substances.
This comes as in recent weeks Moscow warned that the terrorists are preparing to launch false-flag chemical attacks. Over the past decade, the terrorists staged several false-flag chemical attacks and filmed them to pressure the Western countries for actions against the Syrian government. They have failed, however, and this scenario is now threadbare and lost its effects and cannot draw international attention.
Terrorists frustrated after Arab-Syrian rapprochement
After Arab countries and Turkey resumed ties with the Syrian government, resistance forces prepared to remove the biggest obstacle to peace and stability in Syria. If Idlib is recaptured, terrorists will be obliterated in the Arab country forever and full calm will return after 12 years.
Over the past years, the terrorists have been a bone in the throat, hindering peace efforts. Now that everything is prepared for their obliteration, the Syrian government is putting patience aside to crush them in a final blow.
Losing their key supporter after Turkey began moves to restore ties to Damascus, the terrorists tried to conduct attacks on civil regions and indicate that even without Ankara, they can live on. However, they have miscalculated.
Over the past few years, Russia was opposed to attacks on Idlib driven by de-escalation deals it signed with Turkey. But it changed its mind and has decided to eliminate them after reports the US recruited them to fight Russians in Ukraine.
From another aspect, with the new round of attacks, Russia wants to make it clear to the West that Ukraine campaign does not distract it from Syria. The attacks are a strong message that terrorist actions at home and abroad are intolerable and will be responded to resolutely.
Moreover, some experts believe that the Russian air raids are a warning to Turkey about its treachery and disloyalty concerning deals Ankara signed but did not implement, including a roadmap Moscow provided for Turkish military withdraw and halt of terrorist actions.
It is noteworthy that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey last month claimed that he plans to build 1 million houses for refugees in northern Syria, a move aimed at cementing Turkish occupation. In response, the Russians are pushing to destroy the terrorists to remove the Turkish, and even American, excuses for military stay in Syria.
