The Russian Foreign Ministry published a comment on the development of the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone. The report notes that Idlib has recently seen "a dangerous increase in tension and a surge in violence".
"In December 2019 – January 2020, the terrorists of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (outlawed in the Russian Federation), who seized the de-escalation zone, intensified their aggressive attacks on the positions of the Syrian government troops and nearby cities, primarily Aleppo. In December 2019, more than 1,400 militant attacks were recorded using tanks, machine guns, infantry fighting vehicles, mortar and artillery attacks. The terrorists also violently suppressed demonstrations of civilians inside Idlib, protesting against the dominance of militants, prevented the exit of the civilian population, firing at humanitarian corridors. In fact, the jihadists have taken the population of the Idlib de-escalation zone hostage and are using it as a "human shield", the report says.
In mid-January, the Russian and Turkish military, as noted, made another attempt to implement a state of ceasefire in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
"But the terrorists not only did not reduce their combat activity but on the contrary increased their attacks. In the last two weeks of January, more than 1,000 attacks were reported. The number of killed and injured among Syrian soldiers and civilians outside the de-escalation zone has gone to hundreds. Russian and Turkish military specialists were tragically killed. Attempts to attack the Hmeimim Russian Air Base with drones are not stopped", the comment reads.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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