Syrian government troops on Wednesday captured a key opposition town in the northwest, despite threats by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to use force if they do not pull back by the end of the month, an observer group and news network reported.
The town, Saraqeb, sits at the intersection of two major highways, one linking the Syrian capital, Damascus, to the north and another connecting the nation’s west and east.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and an opposition news network said thay Syrian government troops entered Saraqeb in the evening after an intense day of fighting with opposition fighters, during which several Turkish observation posts were surrounded.
Photo: AFP
Later on Wednesday, the observatory reported clashes inside the town between Syrian troops and opposition fighters.
Turkish troops stationed north of Saraqeb shelled Syrian troops north and west of the town in efforts to break their hold on the town, the observatory said.
Syrian state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV reported government forces encircled Saraqeb after advancing toward the town from three directions.
Some opposition fighters were reportedly still in the town, while the opposition-run Shaam news agency said Syrian troops had not yet entered Saraqeb.
Syrian forces have fought to open the Damascus-Aleppo highway, which rebels have kept shut down since 2012. Saraqeb is the last major rebel-held town in their way.
Turkey, a strong backer of some rebel groups in northwest Syria, has a dozen military observation posts in Idlib Province, which borders Turkey.
In the past few days, Ankara has sent new troops and equipment, setting up posts around Saraqeb in an attempt to keep it from falling into Syrian government hands.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have made advances into Idlib, the nation’s last rebel stronghold, since December last year.
The UN said that more than 500,000 have been displaced because of the violence.
“If the [al-Assad] regime does not retreat to areas behind the observations posts, Turkey will be forced to take matters into its own hands,” Erdogan said on Monday.
He said two of the Turkish observation posts are now behind Syrian lines.
Erdogan spoke to members of his ruling party after clashes between Turkish and Syrian troops inside Syria, which killed seven Turkish and 13 Syrian troops.
Erdogan said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a late-night telephone call on Tuesday that the Syrian forces must retreat to a point agreed on in a 2018 ceasefire agreement.
The observation posts were set up as part of an agreement reached in 2018 with Russia — a main supporter of al-Assad — to monitor a ceasefire that has since collapsed.
During their advance on Saraqeb, Syrian forces surrounded four Turkish observation points, the observatory and news opposition sites said.
It was not clear what happened to the Turkish observation point or its soldiers.
There was no immediate comment from Turkish officials.
The opposition-run Baladi News Network also reported that the town fell to Syrian control, adding that Saraqeb came under intense Syrian and Russian fire.
The observatory said the opposition fighters withdrew from the town under heavy bombing.
Clashes between government forces and opposition fighters continued east of the highway, north of Saraqeb, on Wednesday.
The Syrian Arab News Agency reported that four civilians were killed in rebel shelling of an Aleppo city district, which sits on the highway.
The US, Britain and France requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the escalating situation in northwest Syria. The open meeting was expected to take place yesterday and include a briefing by the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen and UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock, diplomats said on Wednesday ahead of an official announcement.
The UN on Wednesday said that the humanitarian situation in northwest Syria is deteriorating.
About 586,000 people have been displaced since Dec. 1 last year, while more than 100,000 others are “facing an immediate risk of displacement,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Many of those displaced fled with only the clothes on their back, and food, shelter, water, sanitation and education are urgent priorities, Dujarric said.
A humanitarian plan for the next six months to help up to 800,000 people in the northwest is seeking about US$336 million, Dujarric said.
Separately, Israeli airstrikes killed 12 pro-Iran fighters near Damascus and in southern Syria early yesterday, the observatory said.
Syrian and foreign fighters were killed in the strikes in the Kaswa area south of Damascus and the Ezra district of Daraa Province, it said.
Additional reporting by AFP
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