Idlib residents fear renewed Russian-backed offensive

 

 'On Sept. 1, eight raids targeted a Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) camp in the forest of al-Hamamah village in the western countryside of Idlib, while four raids hit two frontlines in Kabana in the countryside of Latakia and Duwayr al-Akrad village in the northwestern countryside of Hama.

 The following day, six Russian raids targeted the hills of Kabana and Tallat al-Khoudur in the countryside of Latakia, as well as Sarmaniya in the countryside of Hama. And from Sept. 3 through Sept. 6, daily raids by Russian aircraft targeted locations in the Idlib countryside, with raids intensifying on Sept. 8 and showing no signs of slowing down.

 The ongoing Russian airstrikes raised the concerns of residents over the possibility of the Syrian government carrying out military action in those areas. As a result, some families decided to flee; others preferred to get rid of their furnishings to make it easier for them to leave in the event of battles.

 Hardly a day goes by without Russian planes carrying out a number of raids, especially in western Idlib and the Jabal al-Zawiya area.

 Omar Jumaa from the town of al-Bara in Jabal al-Zawiya said, “I fled to the northern camps near the Turkish border as the régime bombarded on a daily basis my town and the villages in Jabal al-Zawiya. Add to this the daily Russian airstrikes. Most of the residents of those villages fled to safer areas. Despite the so-called cease-fire reported in the media, it looks like there is war on the ground.”

 For his part, Sameh Nabil, a Free Syrian Army leader residing in Idlib, said, “As factions, we expect the régime to launch military action in Jabal al-Zawiya. After settling the Daraa issue, régime forces may head toward Jabal al-Zawiya. We have braced ourselves for such a possibility and developed appropriate military plans.”

 He added, “Unfortunately, Turkey is sitting idly by even though it is a party to the cease-fire that was agreed to on March 5, 2020, in Moscow. However, the Turkish side in Jabal al-Zawiya is merely watching as Russian planes bombard the towns of Jabal al-Zawiya near the positions of the Turkish army.”

 Naji Abu Hudhaifa, an Idlib-based spokesperson for the National Liberation Front, which includes several armed opposition factions in northern Idlib, said, “The escalation carried out by the Russian planes and the régime’s artillery has been ongoing. We responded by bombing several régime positions in Saraqib from where régime forces launch their attacks against civilians in Idlib.”

 He added, “We have declared full readiness to confront any military operation on the part of the régime, and we are monitoring the movements of the régime forces at the lines of contact.”

 Abu Muslim al-Shami, an Idlib-based military commander in HTS,said the "factions of Al-Fatah al-Mubin (Great Conquest) operations room, which is led by HTS, directly deal with the sources of aggression. After the bombing of Idlib city, we targeted locations deep within the régime [areas] inside the city of Saraqib, which resulted in several explosions inside the city. We also targeted several other areas. We, the military factions, are bracing ourselves for all kinds of possibilities. We are aware that our enemy is [murderous].”

 Majd Kilani, an Idlib-based researcher at the Jusoor Center for Studies, said, “Turkey supports the factions to confront any infiltration in the wake of the recent Astana meeting, where it was agreed to support the factions’ bombing of régime sites in response to the escalation. However, field and political indicators do not point to a Russian or régime plan to start battles neither in Idlib nor elsewhere. Russia presents itself as a guarantor of the political track. On the ground, there are no indications of the régime’s intention to open battles, at least in the near future.”

 Kilani further warned, “The humanitarian situation is catastrophic in Idlib as winter draws near amid another possible coronavirus wave and more possible rounds of bombing operations.”

 Muhannad Darwish, a resident of Idlib, said, “I think the régime has settled the Daraa issue and is close to settling the issue of Syria’s Badia, which has been combed in search of Islamic State cells. I believe the calm that previously existed [in Idlib] was due to the régime’s plan to settle the issues of Daraa and the Badia desert. But since those issues have been settled, escalation will return to Idlib.”

 Darwish believes “Turkey is working hard to have the cease-fire hold in Idlib. Turkey has specific interests and is the weakest link in Syria, so it believes an escalation would not be in its interest. However, I believe if the cease-fire collapses and the battles resume, the Turks will not stand idly by. The quality of their military deployment is different today.” '

Nobody is safe under Assad

 

 'Things couldn't go any better for the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. The whole world watches with horror the takeover of power by the Taliban in Afghanistan and hardly anyone notices what Assad's henchmen are up to. These days they are doing what they have been doing for years, bombing them, driving them away and torturing them, but more unleashed than they have been for a long time. This is a popular strategy used by autocrats in the Middle East: as soon as global attention is focused on another region, they take action against their critics even more brutally than usual.

 For the people in Daraa, a province in southern Syria , on the Jordanian border, this is a disaster. They have been attacked by Assad's henchmen for weeks. For a long time it was relatively peaceful in Daraa. But now Assad is using the moment to submit the province and the provincial capital of the same name.



 Daraa was a center of the opposition for a long time, and protests against the régime began there in 2011. A couple of young people in town had sprayed the sentence "It's your turn, doctor" on a house wall, an allusion to the trained ophthalmologist Bashar al-Assad. He had her arrested and mistreated for it. The anger of family members and residents in Daraa sparked a peaceful uprising that soon spread across the country. But instead of resigning or introducing reforms, the dictator had the demonstrators beaten, arrested and killed. And with it started a destructive war that continues to this day.

 The Assad régime retook Daraa in 2018, but the rebels retained some areas under their control, including the southern part of the provincial capital, Daraa al-Balad. Most recently, Assad's henchmen had besieged it. The residents trapped there endured under inhumane conditions, with dwindling supplies of food, drinking water and medicines.



 With this looming humanitarian catastrophe behind him, Assad was able to blackmail his opponents into surrendering. Russia, the closest ally of the Assad régime, has now negotiated a ceasefire with the rebels, which has been in force for a few days. The agreement provides for a withdrawal of all fighters, the surrender of their weapons and an oath of allegiance by the residents to Bashar al-Assad.

 Since then, Assad's henchmen have been advancing further and further into Daraa al-Balad. Tens of thousands of people are on the run, whoever stays risks death. Assad regards all people who have lived in an opposition area as terrorists who need to be eliminated, even if they have never fought. As a result, many civilians fear massacres and acts of revenge by the régime.



 Their fear is justified. The régime has used tactics similar to those in Daraa in recent years, for example in eastern Aleppo and in eastern Ghouta. Assad and his Iranian and Russian helpers surround the opposition districts, drop more and more bombs on homes and hospitals and leave people starving. After taking the places, Assad's henchmen mistreat or kill many opposition fighters and civilians.

 These crimes are well documented. The fact that the régime is still committing and can commit them to this extent shows one thing very clearly: as long as Assad's régime is in power, there will be no peace, on the contrary. Assad will not stop his attacks until he has control of the whole country again.



 This is also evident in northwest Syria. In Idlib, the last province still controlled by rebels, the Syrian and Russian air forces have been massively bombing the civil infrastructure for a few days. Actually, there is a ceasefire between rebels and régime troops in the province. The attacks now are the worst in almost a year.

 According to the Syrian civil defense, more than five people were killed and at least eleven injured in the bombings, including children. The Syrian and Russian air forces attacked a refugee camp near the Turkish border and houses in the provincial capital of the same name, Idlib, where hundreds of thousands of people live. They also attacked a medical facility in Marayan village, which was one of the few medical centers in the area that served thousands of people.



 Around three million people live in Idlib, many of whom have previously fled there from other provinces. Many are now on the run from the bombs again. Even before the new attacks, the situation in Idlib was dire. Many people have set themselves up in tented camps or makeshift shelters without protection from rain or heat. Most of them just make ends meet.

 The supply situation in Syria and especially in Idlib is catastrophic. The country is struggling with an economic crisis that is exacerbated by the collapse of the financial system in neighboring Lebanon. Due to the currency depreciation, the prices for many products have multiplied. Even basic things like bread and gasoline have become priceless for many, and in some areas people are threatened with famine. According to the World Food Program (WFP), 12.4 million people in Syria can only find food with great difficulty .



 In addition to hunger and poverty, the lack of security affects people, especially in Assad's territory. Assad, who was re-elected president in May after a sham election, is punishing anyone who dares to question his rule. Intimidation, torture and extrajudicial executions are cruel everyday life for many people in Syria.

 Not only those who stayed in Syria suffer from this. In the course of the war, millions of Syrians fled, most of them to neighboring countries such as Jordan, Turkey or Lebanon, and many to Europe. There some politicians and parts of the public are increasingly convinced that now that the fighting in Syria has allegedly subsided, the people should return to their homeland.



 The Danish government, for example, has recently withdrawn residence permits from Syrian refugees because it considers parts of Syria to be safe. At the end of 2020, the federal government suspended the ban on deportation for Syrians in order, as it emphasizes, to be able to deport only serious criminals. Even in countries like Turkey and Lebanon, which are struggling with severe economic crises, resentments against the refugees are growing, and attacks on Syrian accommodation and restaurants are increasing. It is not safe for anyone in Syria, especially not for returnees. Assad regards people who have fled the country as apostates and traitors.

 A recently published report by Amnesty International shows how cruelly he is taking revenge on them. Assad’s secret services have arrested, tortured and disappeared Syrians who returned to Syria after fleeing. The human rights organization documented cases of Syrians who returned to Syria between mid-2017 and spring 2021. The result: 66 people were severely ill-treated upon arrival, including 13 children. Five people were killed and there is no trace of another 17. The report proves that Syria is not a safe place for returnees, said Markus N. Beeko, Secretary General of Amnesty International in Germany, at the presentation of the study. Rather, the secret services are specifically targeting returned Syrian refugees, and deportations to Syria are therefore "irresponsible, prohibited under international law and humanly disgusting".

 In the Amnesty report, the Syrian Sema, who returned to Syria in 2019, has a say. "I didn't flee because of the bombs, but because of the threats from the Syrian régime," she says. "The reasons I left my country are still there." '