Russia is testing the readiness of the Syrian government forces in their area of deployment on the outskirts of Idlib, in what some fear is a prelude to a wide-scale military operation to uproot the opposition in northwest Syria.
Syrian and Russian forces are intensifying their bombing campaign in Syria’s Idlib before the tripartite summit between the Russian, Turkish and Iranian leaders in Tehran, further worrying the Syrian factions.
Government forces escalated tensions on the battlefronts in Idlib in response to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham targeting the town of Kassab in the Latakia countryside after installing a statue of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.