Russia Refutes Claims of Indiscriminate Strikes in Syria’s Idlib

UNITED NATIONS – Russia categorically denies all allegations of indiscriminate shelling of targets in Syria’s Idlib province, the head of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria Maj. Gen. Alexey Bakin said during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the country on Tuesday, according to Sputnik.

 “Working on the ground here, we constantly see a one-sided treatment of events in the Idlib de-escalation zone by Western countries who accuse Syria and Russia of escalating tensions while shutting their eyes to the atrocities of jihadists and their terrorist activities in the province,” Bakin said. “We categorically refute all of the allegations of an indiscriminate nature of strikes of government forces against targets in Idlib.”

Bakin said anti-Syrian non-governmental organizations continue to spread false information to mislead the global community and, by doing so, protect the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorists – an alliance of terror groups led by the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

 In 2018, with most of the country cleared of a broad array of terrorist groups, Russia, Iran and Turkey became guarantors of a countrywide ceasefire, with the province of Idlib in the country’s northwest now remaining the only area where a sizeable number of anti-government militants remains present.

The northwestern Idlib province is home to scores of various groups, including the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group. Around 30,000 militants, including foreign mercenaries, are reportedly operating in the region.

H.M