Special Envoy for Syria, met with the Syrian opposition to discuss the U. The U. March Islamist rebels, including the Nusra Front , attacked government forces and captured most of Idlib. April 3: Syrian rebels and fighters from the Nusra Front captured the Nassib border crossing with Jordan and three nearby military posts. The Syrian government launched intense bombing raids in the area.
April Peace talks in Moscow among Syrian factions ended with no sign of progress. The Nusra Front remained inside the camp. April Syrian forces dropped shrapnel-filled bombs and killed more than people in Aleppo.
The same day, ISIS-linked militants attacked a Shiite mosque in Kuwait , killing 27 people and injuring more than July 2: A U. July The first group of U. ISIS continued to seize territory — new and previously held — from coalition and Syrian government forces. Two ceasefire agreements between rebel and government forces were implemented throughout the year. The first failed, but the other deal brokered later in the year by Russia and Turkey was successfully enforced.
May Kurdish forces backed by U. July U. Several people are killed. Dabiq held symbolic importance for ISIS, as the group claimed it would be the site of the final apocalyptic battle and victory of the caliphate.
Abu Jandal al Kuwaiti, a senior commander for the Islamic State and a member of its war committee, was killed in a U. The move tripled its forces to some 31, fighters and expanded its presence from one front to operations in Idlib, Hama and Aleppo in the north and Daraa in the south. February: Backed by U. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the strikes were coordinated with Damascus.
March 2: Syrian government forces recaptured Palmyra from ISIS for the second time since the extremist movement had taken the city again in December March The U. The operation was part of a wider offensive to take Raqqa and the Tabqa Dam, a key electricity source for Syria. A controversial deal was struck that allowed some ISIS fighters and their families to evacuate to Deir Ezzor province, in eastern Syria, by bus on August On August 30, U. On September 13, the remnant of the convoy, some fighters and their family members, reportedly reached Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province.
A government-held enclave in the city had held out against ISIS since The lucrative piece of infrastructure was the first gas field liberated in the campaign to capture areas east of the Euphrates river from ISIS. But he praised his forces. Syrian government supporters say the numbers are significantly higher. Pro-government politician, Fares Shehabi, told us that he believes there are there are as many as , HTS fighters in Idlib.
He says HTS is affiliated to al-Qaeda despite its denials. It is a Turkish-backed alliance that includes hardline Islamist groups like Ahrar al-Sham and Faylaq al-Sham, as well as several groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army FSA - a force considered more "moderate" by Western powers. But Aron Lund, a fellow with the US-based research group The Century Foundation, says the NLF "is still the same group of Idlib-based factions as before the SNA rebranding", noting that the alliance is held together by Turkish leadership, as well as Turkish money, weapons and supplies.
However, they add some manpower and are closer to Turkey whose role is going to be key to what happens next in Idlib," he says.
According to a report by the US Department of Defense released in February, the "Turkish-supported opposition likely consists of between 22, and 50, fighters from more than 30 different groups. Hurras al-Din is largely made up of HTS defectors and the two groups have so far found it difficult to set aside their differences and work together beyond occasional, limited collaboration.
There are also many foreign jihadists in Idlib, many of whom are fighting for groups associated with al-Qaeda. The Uighurs - a Muslim ethnic minority primarily based in China's Xinjiang province - established a presence in northern Syria in the early years of the civil war.
There are also believed to be other foreign jihadists in Idlib, including Chechens and Uzbeks, although the numbers are likely to be smaller. A major concern now is for the civilians living in Idlib.
The UN estimates it is home to 3 million people, including 1 million children. The UN says the air and ground attacks in Idlib have been causing both "massive waves" of displacement and "major loss of civilian life".
At least 1, civilians have been killed, including women and children since the escalation of the conflict in northwest Syria in April Read more from Reality Check. Send us your questions. Follow us on Twitter. It has been the biggest escalation since last summer between Assad and his enemies in Idlib province and a belt of territory around it. Ankara stepped up supplies in recent days after failing to persuade Russia in recent meetings of a joint working group that it should end its escalation to avert a major influx of refugees pouring into Turkey, two senior opposition figures said.
In doing so Turkey signaled its readiness to preserve its influence in northwestern Syria, where it has beefed up its troop presence in a dozen military bases that were set up under a de-escalation deal with Russia, a senior rebel commander said. Turkish officials were not immediately available to comment. Overnight, a Turkish military convoy arrived at a base in northern Hama near rebel-held Jabal al Zawiya, where Russian and Syrian jets have been pounding for weeks, a rebel and a witness said.
0コメント