Heavy fighting throughout Thursday in northwestern Syria has quieted down, but Syrian forces have continued to carry out airstrikes in rebel-held areas, particularly in the Idlib Province and its provincial capital.
Details on the casualties aren’t entirely clear, but one airstrike hit a residential area in Idlib, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 13 civilians killed there. There was no word of any further rebel pushes into government-controlled territory. Other reports on strikes came out of the White Helmets organization, a group which tends to be funded by Western governments and isn’t known for its accuracy.
Idlib Province is the main rebel-held territory left in Syria, and is held almost entirely by al-Qaeda. Some territory in neighboring Aleppo is held by Turkish-backed rebels, and on Thursday fighting was reported in both areas.
While Turkey has tried to insist on a ceasefire in the area to prevent their own rebels from being wiped out, al-Qaeda has never honored such deals, and its repeated pushes into government territory are constantly provoking on-again, off-again offensives like this.
So much for joint Russia and Turkey peace patrol.
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is anti-Assad with the bias that entails, but not dishonest. Not to be confused with the Syrian Network for Human Rights.