Airstrikes by Russia, an ally of the Damascus government, killed Turkish-backed rebels in northwestern Syria on Monday, one monitor said, in the deadliest incident of violence since a clash about eight months ago.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more
than 90 others were wounded when Russian warplanes struck a training camp of
the Faylaq al-Sham faction in the Duwayli area in Idlib province.
In early March, a truce was exchanged between
Moscow and Ankara that led to months of military action by the Russian-backed
government in Idlib, the country's last major rebel stronghold.
The December attack displaced one million people
in the worst inhumane crisis of the nine-year civil war.
The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdul Rahman,
called Monday's strikes "the deadliest since the ceasefire."
The National Liberation Front, an umbrella group
of Ankara-backed rebels based in Idlib, including Faylaq al-Sham, told’ AFP
that Monday's Russian attack targeted one of its positions and caused
casualties. He did not give an exact number of casualties.
NLF spokesperson Sayf Raad "condemned the
continued violation of the Turkish-Russian agreement in targeting Russian
aircraft and government troops, villages and towns."
Of the nearly 1 million people displaced by the
latest Idlib attack, more than 200,000 have returned to their cities and
villages, most since the ceasefire was’ implemented.
Despite intermittent bombardment of the area from
both sides, the March war has largely taken place.
Abdel-Rahman said Russian airstrikes have
occasionally targeted military positions, including those of Turkish-backed
groups.
- UN Ambassador Visits -
The U.S. military said Thursday it had carried
out a drone strike against al Qaeda leaders in northwestern Syria, in which the
Observatory said 17 jihadists had been killed’ at a dinner party.
Led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda
affiliate in Syria, and coalition rebels occupy the region of about 3 million
people, who have been living in camps since fleeing fighting in other parts of
the country.
Last week, Turkey retreated from one of its
largest outposts in northwestern Syria, which has been under siege by Syrian
government forces for the past year.
The Morek checkpoint in Hama province was
Turkey's largest checkpoint, most of which is now under Syrian government control.
The Observatory says that after the With Russian-backed military victories, the Syrian government has gained control of
about 70 percent of the country.
The Syrian war, which began in 2011 after the
brutal crackdown on anti-government protests has killed more than 380,000
people and displaced millions at home and abroad.
Endless rounds of UN-backed peace talks have
failed to stem the tide of bloodshed, and in recent years, the path of parallel
talks led by Russia and Turkey has been largely’ overcome.
On Sunday, UN envoy to Syria Gere Pedersen
visited Damascus and met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
Pedersen later said the meeting discussed all
issues related to Security Council Resolution 2254 for a political solution to
the conflict.
"It is my hope that the meetings we have
today and the meetings that will continue will be the beginning of something
new," he said.
The UN envoy said he would then hold talks with
members of the political opposition.
"Hopefully, we can see if it is possible to
find a common ground on how to move this process forward," he added.
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