The lives of 3 million civilians in jihadi-controlled Idlib are at risk due to an escalation in Syrian and Russian attacks. The fighting threatens a shaky truce that has been in place since September.
Image: picture-alliance/M.Ali
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Syrian government and allied Russian warplanes pounded the last rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria for the fourth day on Friday, forcing thousands of civilians to flee.
The stepped-up attacks in Idlib province threaten a fragile eight-month ceasefire agreement reached between Russia and Turkey to avert a Syrian regime offensive against an array of jihadi groups and rebel factions that could displace hundreds of thousands of civilians.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in the "most violent escalation" since the formation of a Turkey-Russia monitored deescalation zone at least 39 people have been killed in the past four days. Among them were 27 civilians, eight jihadi fighters and four soldiers or militiamen loyal to the Syrian regime.
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Some 30 districts in rural Hama and Idlib lying within the deescalation zone were targeted by Syrian government and Russian warplanes in dozens of airstrikes, the watchdog added. Regime helicopters were also reported to have dropped 93 indiscriminate barrel bombs on several areas in the Idlib and Hama countryside over the past day.
Syria, Russia respond to attacks
Syrian state media said "terrorists" were targeted. Idlib is held by several rebel groups, the most powerful of which is the al-Qaida-linked Tahrir al-Sham.
The latest escalation comes as Moscow and Damascus accused jihadi forces of carrying out multiple assaults since early April, including a dozen attempts to attack Russia's Hmeymim air base using drones and missiles.
The Russian Defense Ministry this week said all the attacks on its base were repelled and dismissed claims by militants that four Russian soldiers were killed in a separate attack.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 159 regime soldiers and militia fighters loyal to them have been killed in the deescalation zone since mid-February. Some 300 civilians have been killed over the same period, alongside 88 rebels.
Who's fighting in the Syria conflict?
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
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War with no end
Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Al-Bushy
The dictator
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Pitarakis
The eastern guardian
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/M. Metzel
The western allies
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Brandon
The rebels
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
Image: Reuters
The resistance
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
Image: Getty Images/A. Sik
The new jihadists
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
The old jihadists
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nusra Front on Twitter
The Persian shadow
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
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Idlib: Jihadi-controlled displacement camp
Around 300,000 people live in the buffer zone where hostilities continue, while 3 million people, many of them internally displaced from fighting in other parts of Syria, live in Idlib.
The UN said it was deeply concerned by an escalation of fighting threatening to displace civilians.
"These increased hostilities are triggering large-scale displacement, from northern Hama and southern Idlib. There are also reports of deserted villages after civilians fled for safety. An estimated 323,000 people are estimated to have been displaced in the northwest since September of last year," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said late Thursday.
Turkey, which backs some rebel factions, and Russia, a key backer of Damascus, agreed to establish a deescalation zone that includes southern Idlib, northern Hama and parts of Latakia in September.
The agreement came amid international concern that a Syrian regime offensive would displace hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians and send a flood of refugees and extremist fighters to Turkey — and potentially onto Europe.
With the backing of Iran and Russia, President Bashar Assad has regained control over most of the country, except for a US-backed Kurdish zone in the northeast. Assad has vowed to take back all territory once under his control.
