U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned Syria against launching an attack on the country's
last rebel stronghold with the help of Russia
and Iran, saying the offensive could trigger a "human tragedy." Syrian
forces are massing around the northwestern province of Idlib, in
preparation for the assault.
"President Bashar al-Assad of Syria
must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians
would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this
potential human tragedy," Mr. Trump tweeted. "Hundreds of thousands of
people could be killed. Don't let that happen!"
Moscow shirked the
warning, as Russian warplanes carried out a number of airstrikes
targeting rebels positions in Idlib province. London-based war
monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said
it was the first time Russian strikes had targeted the northwestern
province in about three weeks, but they were limited in scope;
reportedly hitting rebel positions in uninhabited areas and causing
unclear damage. There was no indication as of Tuesday that it was the
beginning of a wider offensive in Idlib.
A spokesman for the
Kremlin in Moscow dismissed Mr. Trump's warning about the looming
offensive, saying it failed to address the root problem of "a nest of
terrorists" in the province, where an estimated 3 million civilians also
remain. Russia, like the Syrian government, refers to all opposition
Syrian forces as terrorists.
The
Kremlin said the fighters in Idlib were blocking peace efforts and
threatened Russia's military presence in Syria. CBS News correspondent
Debora Patta reports that Russia has explained the early morning strikes
in Idlib as retaliation for weaponized drone attacks on Syrian forces
by the opposition fighters.
The United Nations and aid groups have warned that a full
assault on Idlib could spark a humanitarian catastrophe on a scale not
yet seen in
Syria's seven-year-old conflict.
But Russia and Iran have insisted that extremist groups in Idlib must
be defeated and are expected to back regime forces in any assault.
The
warning came as Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javed Zarif met with
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in a surprise visit to Damascus ahead of
the looming offensive.
"Terrorists must be purged" from Idlib
and Syrian government control of the province restored, Zarif said in
Damascus, according to Iranian media. "Syria's territorial integrity
should be safeguarded and all tribes and groups, as one society, should
start the reconstruction process, and the refugees should return to
their homes," he said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif's trip to
war-ravaged Syria comes just days before a top-level tripartite meeting
in Tehran to discuss the Syrian conflict, now in its eighth year. The
Russian government spokesman said Tuesday that the Idlib crisis would be
a topic of discussion at the meeting.
Read more: Donald Trump warns Russia and Iran over expected Idilb offensive by Syria leader Bashar Assad - CBS News
