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SYRIAN MILITARY SOURCE ALLEGES TURKISH ROLE IN IDLIB OFFENSIVE
March 30, 2015
(Reuters) - A Syrian military source accused Turkey on Monday of
helping Islamist rebels to stage an assault on Idlib, a provincial
capital which fighters seized at the weekend.
The source declined to comment on the situation in Idlib, citing
security considerations, but a monitoring group has confirmed the al
Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and allies now control Idlib and said the
Syrian air force bombed the city on Monday.
The fall of Idlib, 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, marks
only the second time in the Syrian civil war that Damascus has
lost control of a provincial capital. The first was Raqqa, which
the ultra-radical Islamic State group has turned into the de facto
capital of its self-declared caliphate.
Echoing more general comments by President Bashar al-Assad, the
military source accused both Turkey and Jordan of supporting the
insurgents in their Idlib offensive, saying they were "leading
operations and planning them". The insurgents were using advanced
communication apparatus that had been supplied to them via Turkey,
the source added.
The Turkish foreign ministry declined to comment.
Turkey is one of the regional states most hostile to Assad, along
with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In an interview with the U.S. network
CBS, Assad described Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as a "Muslim
Brotherhood fanatic" who was directly supporting insurgents
"logistically and militarily" daily.
Syria's government has not commented on the fall of Idlib, though
the pro-government Watan newspaper published in Damascus reported on
Monday that the Nusra Front and its allies had raised the al Qaeda
flag over government buildings in the city.
Nusra Front was joined by groups including the hardline Ahrar al-Sham
in seizing Idlib on Saturday, a reminder of the pressures facing
Damascus after more than four years of crisis.
The Islamist alliance rejected a call by the Turkish-based
mainstream political opposition to let an interim government set up
its headquarters in Idlib, saying it would ruled by those "in the
trenches and not in hotels".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the monitoring group, said
warplanes staged a number of raids on Idlib. More than 170 people on
both sides were killed in the fighting, including at least 126 Syrian
insurgents, the Observatory said.
GOVERNANCE QUESTION
The setback for Assad in Idlib coincides with growing tension over
Yemen between Saudi Arabia and Iran, one of Assad's firmest backers.
Turkey has come out in support of a Saudi-led military intervention
against Iranian-allied Houthis in Yemen.
The Syrian conflict, in which an estimated 220,000 people have been
killed, has been a major arena for Iranian-Saudi rivalry.
The Nusra Front's influence in northwestern Syria has been expanding
at the expense of mainstream rebel groups, some of which received U.S.
military support. It is a rival of Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot
that has seized territory in both Syria and Iraq.
Ahrar al-Sham issued a statement urging the people of Idlib to help
fighters run the city and saying they were not seeking to set up an
Islamic emirate.
"There was an agreement by all factions to protect and ensure that
essential services are continued," said an Ahrar al-Sham fighter who
said he was speaking from Idlib during an interview conducted via
the internet. He did not give his name.
But there are many questions over how groups that won Idlib in a
joint operation will run the city.
"The rebels have certainly shown they can cooperate on the battlefield
- that is not new - but the governance question has been much more
difficult for them, particularly in the north, and particularly in
Idlib province where Nusra has been asserting unilateral dominance,"
said Noah Bonsey, a senior analyst with International Crisis Group.
Mainstream rebel groups fighting Assad in southern Syria say they
recently received increased support from his foreign enemies in
response to a government offensive there.
Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said the death toll among
Syrian government forces and personnel was much lower than among
insurgents. An opposition activist in the area said the government had
withdrawn personnel and anything sensitive to the state in apparent
anticipation of losing the city.
http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/64723
March 30, 2015
(Reuters) - A Syrian military source accused Turkey on Monday of
helping Islamist rebels to stage an assault on Idlib, a provincial
capital which fighters seized at the weekend.
The source declined to comment on the situation in Idlib, citing
security considerations, but a monitoring group has confirmed the al
Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and allies now control Idlib and said the
Syrian air force bombed the city on Monday.
The fall of Idlib, 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, marks
only the second time in the Syrian civil war that Damascus has
lost control of a provincial capital. The first was Raqqa, which
the ultra-radical Islamic State group has turned into the de facto
capital of its self-declared caliphate.
Echoing more general comments by President Bashar al-Assad, the
military source accused both Turkey and Jordan of supporting the
insurgents in their Idlib offensive, saying they were "leading
operations and planning them". The insurgents were using advanced
communication apparatus that had been supplied to them via Turkey,
the source added.
The Turkish foreign ministry declined to comment.
Turkey is one of the regional states most hostile to Assad, along
with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In an interview with the U.S. network
CBS, Assad described Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as a "Muslim
Brotherhood fanatic" who was directly supporting insurgents
"logistically and militarily" daily.
Syria's government has not commented on the fall of Idlib, though
the pro-government Watan newspaper published in Damascus reported on
Monday that the Nusra Front and its allies had raised the al Qaeda
flag over government buildings in the city.
Nusra Front was joined by groups including the hardline Ahrar al-Sham
in seizing Idlib on Saturday, a reminder of the pressures facing
Damascus after more than four years of crisis.
The Islamist alliance rejected a call by the Turkish-based
mainstream political opposition to let an interim government set up
its headquarters in Idlib, saying it would ruled by those "in the
trenches and not in hotels".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the monitoring group, said
warplanes staged a number of raids on Idlib. More than 170 people on
both sides were killed in the fighting, including at least 126 Syrian
insurgents, the Observatory said.
GOVERNANCE QUESTION
The setback for Assad in Idlib coincides with growing tension over
Yemen between Saudi Arabia and Iran, one of Assad's firmest backers.
Turkey has come out in support of a Saudi-led military intervention
against Iranian-allied Houthis in Yemen.
The Syrian conflict, in which an estimated 220,000 people have been
killed, has been a major arena for Iranian-Saudi rivalry.
The Nusra Front's influence in northwestern Syria has been expanding
at the expense of mainstream rebel groups, some of which received U.S.
military support. It is a rival of Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot
that has seized territory in both Syria and Iraq.
Ahrar al-Sham issued a statement urging the people of Idlib to help
fighters run the city and saying they were not seeking to set up an
Islamic emirate.
"There was an agreement by all factions to protect and ensure that
essential services are continued," said an Ahrar al-Sham fighter who
said he was speaking from Idlib during an interview conducted via
the internet. He did not give his name.
But there are many questions over how groups that won Idlib in a
joint operation will run the city.
"The rebels have certainly shown they can cooperate on the battlefield
- that is not new - but the governance question has been much more
difficult for them, particularly in the north, and particularly in
Idlib province where Nusra has been asserting unilateral dominance,"
said Noah Bonsey, a senior analyst with International Crisis Group.
Mainstream rebel groups fighting Assad in southern Syria say they
recently received increased support from his foreign enemies in
response to a government offensive there.
Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said the death toll among
Syrian government forces and personnel was much lower than among
insurgents. An opposition activist in the area said the government had
withdrawn personnel and anything sensitive to the state in apparent
anticipation of losing the city.
http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/64723