Russian Air Force Strikes Militants in Idlib as Turkey Continues Illegal Occupation

The Russian Air Force launched a major strike on jihadist militant targets in Syria’s Idlib governate on March 6th, almost a year since the phase of open hostilities in the area ceased, with the outskirts of the city of Maarat Misrin in the northern countryside targeted. The Syrian Arab Army, which has worked closely with Russian forces since 2015, shelled southern Idlib at the same time and reportedly killed several militants. The attack is thought to have been carried out in response to strikes by jihadist forces that operate from Idlib against Syrian targets. The Idlib governate has since late 2017 remained the only area of Syria under jihadist control, and straddles the Turkish border which has served as a passage for arms and equipment as well as Islamist extremist fighters to enter Syria from across the world. 

Idlib has been classified in U.S. Military reports as the world’s largest Al Qaeda safe haven since 2001, and deployments of Turkish personnel among the jihadist militias in Syria has led to several casualties among them. Turkey notably launched a large scale military intervention in late January 2020 to prevent Syria from claiming the northern governate, and has provided arms, training and both air and artillery support to the tens of thousands of Al Qaeda linked militants based there. Turkey has pledged to prevent a reunification of Syria unless a change in the government in Damascus can be imposed, and has invested in building a command centre in and heavily fortifying Idlib to ensure that it cannot be reclaimed. Jihadists based in Idlib have been deployed by Turkey for operations in both Libya and Azerbaijan, and their presence has been considered a serious threat to international security. The Turkish military intervention on Syrian soil lacks UN authorisation, meaning it has had no legal basis in international law and has been widely perceived as an act of aggression against its Arab neighbour.