Russian war planes have launched fresh strikes on the Syrian province of Idlib, a monitor says, as talks in Tehran failed to stop an impending military offensive there.<\/p>\n
The raids targeted rebel-held positions in Idlib\u2019s south-west, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.<\/p>\n
Syrian forces, backed by Russia and Iran, are poised to attack the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.<\/p>\n
Turkey and others have warned of a pending humanitarian disaster.<\/p>\n
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- Five reasons why the battle for Idlib matters<\/a><\/li>\n
- How Idlib may be changing Trump\u2019s Syria strategy<\/a><\/li>\n
- Why is there a war in Syria?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In the province itself, thousands of people staged street protests after Friday prayers calling for international protection.<\/p>\n
In footage circulating on social media, one protester in the town of Al-Dana said they were demanding that the UN \u201cstop the killing of Syrians\u201d.<\/p>\n
What is the latest military action?<\/h2>\n
The observatory said Russian jets hit positions of the jihadist alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Ahrar al-Sham group on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe aim was to destroy rebel fortifications,\u201d observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.<\/p>\n
HTS is designated by the UN as a terrorist group and has an estimated 10,000 fighters in Idlib.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the week, Russian jets were reported to have carried out about 30 strikes on rebel-held areas in western Idlib, the mountains of Latakia province, and the Sahl al-Ghab plain.<\/p>\n
Syrian army soldiers and allied militiamen are reportedly massing for what has been described as a phased offensive.<\/p>\n
HTS and rival rebel factions backed by neighbouring Turkey have said they will fight back.<\/p>\n
What happened in the Tehran summit?<\/h2>\n
At a trilateral meeting between Russia, Iran and Turkey on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected Turkey\u2019s calls for a truce in Idlib.<\/p>\n
Mr Putin said Russia would continue its fight against \u201cterrorists\u201d in Idlib province.<\/p>\n
Turkey \u2013 which has long backed some rebel groups \u2013 fears an all-out assault will trigger another major refugee crisis on its southern border.<\/p>\n
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian and Iranian counterparts: \u201cWe don\u2019t want Idlib to turn into a bloodbath.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAny attack on Idlib would result in a catastrophe. Any fight against terrorists requires methods based on time and patience.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Russia and Iran say jihadist groups in Idlib must be wiped out.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s President Hassan Rouhani argued that \u201cfighting terrorism in Idlib was an unavoidable part of the mission to restore peace and stability to Syria\u201d.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mr Putin said \u201cthe legitimate Syrian government has a right and must eventually take control of its entire national territory\u201d.<\/p>\n
Why is Idlib important?<\/h2>\n
The province is the last major stronghold of the rebel and jihadist groups which have been trying to overthrow Mr Assad for the past seven years.<\/p>\n
Idlib straddles major highways across Syria and if it is retaken by the government, would leave the rebels with just a few isolated pockets of territory across the country.<\/p>\n
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- Who\u2019s in control of Idlib?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The province is not controlled by a single group, but rather by a number of rival factions, including a jihadist alliance linked to al-Qaeda, and a rival National Liberation Front which is backed by Turkey.<\/p>\n
Up to 30,000 rebel and jihadist fighters are believed to be in Idlib.<\/p>\n
But the vast majority of its residents are civilians. The UN says the region is home to some 2.9 million people, including a million children.<\/p>\n
More than half of the civilians have already been displaced at least once from elsewhere in Syria and have nowhere left to go.<\/p>\n
What are the concerns?<\/h2>\n
The UN fears a large-scale offensive in Idlib will lead to a humanitarian disaster.<\/p>\n
Without a political solution in Syria, \u201cwe will see this war reach new levels of horrors\u201d, the UN special envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the new US envoy for Syria, Jim Jeffrey, said the anticipated conflict would be a \u201creckless escalation\u201d, and that \u201cthere is lots of evidence that chemical weapons are being prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did not give details of the evidence he was referring to.<\/p>\n
What do we know of chemical weapons use?<\/h2>\n
The Syrian government has denied ever using chemical weapons.<\/p>\n
However, experts from the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have said government forces were behind an attack involving the nerve agent Sarin on a rebel-held town in southern Idlib in April 2017<\/a> that killed more than 80 people.<\/p>\n
The US state department warned on Monday that Washington would respond to any new chemical attacks by the Syrian government or its allies.<\/p>\n
- How Idlib may be changing Trump\u2019s Syria strategy<\/a><\/li>\n