Airstrikes hit last bastion of Syrian rebels as final showdown looms
Source: Washington Post
Airstrikes hit last bastion of Syrian rebels as final showdown looms
By Louisa Loveluck
September 4 at 6:58 AM
BEIRUT Russian warplanes in Syria bombed the countrys final rebel stronghold Tuesday, a monitoring group said, ending a weeks-long period of uneasy calm there and raising fears that an all-out offensive would follow.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recorded more than a dozen strikes around the northern city of Jisr al-Shughour in Idlib province. In photographs from the area, plumes of dust and smoke could be seen rising from the edge of a residential district.
After seven years of war, the northern province of Idlib has become the rebels final bastion. With Turkeys border sealed to the north, it has also become a holding pen for some 2 million displaced civilians, among them activists, journalists and aid workers who fear arrest if they return to life under President Bashar al-Assads government.
In a tweet late Monday, President Trump warned Syria and its Iranian and Russian allies that a reckless assault on the province would be a grave humanitarian mistake. But as news of the bombings circulated later in the day, the Kremlin said the province was a nest of terrorists.
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