Russian Jets Bomb Opposition-Held Idlib in Syria

Pilots of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet prepare before a flight at the Hmeimim air base near Latakia, Syria, in this handout from Russia's Defense Ministry October 5, 2015. (Reuters)
Pilots of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet prepare before a flight at the Hmeimim air base near Latakia, Syria, in this handout from Russia's Defense Ministry October 5, 2015. (Reuters)
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Russian Jets Bomb Opposition-Held Idlib in Syria

Pilots of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet prepare before a flight at the Hmeimim air base near Latakia, Syria, in this handout from Russia's Defense Ministry October 5, 2015. (Reuters)
Pilots of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 fighter jet prepare before a flight at the Hmeimim air base near Latakia, Syria, in this handout from Russia's Defense Ministry October 5, 2015. (Reuters)

Jets believed to be Russian bombed several towns in opposition-held northwestern Syria in a new flare-up of violence since a Turkish-Russian deal that halted major fighting nearly six months ago, witnesses said.

War planes flying at high altitude, which tracking centers said were Russian Sukhoi jets, dropped bombs on the Harbanoush and Sheikh Bahr Nahr areas where makeshift camps house tens of thousands of displaced families.

“There were over 20 raids we have monitored by Russian jets stationed in Hmeimim air base,” said Abdullah Sawan, a volunteer plane spotter whose network covers the Russian air base in the western coastal province of Latakia.

Russian jets this month bombed mountainous areas in Latakia where opposition fighters are dug in and civil defense witnesses said jets struck a camp for displaced people near the town of Binish in Idlib province that killed at least three civilians.

Russian jets in June made the first air strikes since the deal brokered in March between Russia, which backs Syrian president Bashar Assad’s forces, and Turkey, which supports opposition fighters.

The opposition says the Syrian army and its allied militias were amassing troops on front lines.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow nor the Syrian army who accuse militant groups of wrecking the deal and deny any indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

Russia said last week the joint military patrols in Idlib, carried out along the M4 highway linking Syria’s east and west, had been suspended over increasing militant attacks in the area.

The March deal ended a Russian-backed bombing campaign that had displaced over a million people in the region which borders Turkey after months of fighting that killed hundreds.

Residents also said the jet strikes coincided with heavy artillery shelling by the Syrian army of several villages in Jabal al Zawya in southern Idlib.



Turkish FM Discusses with Blinken Need to Cooperate with New Syrian Administration

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attending a press conference after their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. (EPA/Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office handout)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attending a press conference after their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. (EPA/Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office handout)
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Turkish FM Discusses with Blinken Need to Cooperate with New Syrian Administration

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attending a press conference after their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. (EPA/Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office handout)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attending a press conference after their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. (EPA/Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office handout)

Türkiye's foreign minister discussed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday the need to act in cooperation with the new Syrian administration to ensure the completion of the transition period in an orderly manner, the ministry said.

In a phone call, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Blinken that Ankara would not allow Kurdish YPG militia to take shelter in Syria, the ministry spokesperson said.

During the call, Blinken emphasized the need to support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that "upholds human rights and prioritizes an inclusive and representative government," according to a statement from the US State Department.

Blinken and Fidan also discussed preventing terrorism from endangering the security of Türkiye and Syria, the statement said.