As the Iranian-Russian-backed pro-Assad coalition in Syria is gearing up for the long-anticipated offensive against Sunni Islamist rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib another decisive battle seems be in the making which could possibly involve the US military.
After having regained control over southern Syria where the Iranian-led pro-Assad coalition seized the last pockets of Islamist resistance at the beginning of August, Assad’s forces are now amassing in northern Latakia, northeastern Hama and the southwestern countryside of the Aleppo province.
The Syrian and Russian air force have already begun bombing positions of Hayat Tahrir a-Sham a large coalition of Sunni Islamist militias dominated by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, the former Al Qaeda branch in Syria which was previously known under the name Jabhat al-Nusra.
Pro-Assad media in Syria reported on Wednesday that the force which will launch the ground assault on Idlib will be three times stronger than the coalition of pro-regime militias which ‘liberated’ the Daraa and Quneitra provinces in southern Syria.
Once the ground offensive in Idlib begins “the Syrian army will deliver blows unprecedented in the history of the Syrian crisis to the positions and fortifications of the militants,” according to the Syrian Observer.
The same outlet said Turkey should withdraw its forces from Idlib and warned Ankara to remember the fate of the allegedly US-backed rebels in Ghouta and Daraa in southern Syria who were deported to Idlib under so-called reconciliation deals with the Assad regime.
The Trump administration on Wednesday issued a clear warning to the Assad regime not to use chemical weapons during the Idlib offensive or face another devastating American attack with Tomahawk cruise missiles and other precision weapons.
