Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that victory over terrorist groups in Idlib was “unavoidable” as Moscow backs an intensifying assault by the Damascus regime on Syria’s last major opposition bastion.
“The victory over terrorists is unavoidable” in Idlib, Lavrov told the Munich Security Conference, as tensions rise between Moscow and Ankara, which backs Syria’s opposition forces.
Syria’s northwestern Idlib province is held by an array of militants dominated by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) extremist group, which is led by members of the country’s former al-Qaeda franchise.
The HTS group “controls a major part of the Idlib security zone and that’s a problem,” Lavrov said in comments translated into English.
He called the area “one of the last hotbeds of terrorism” in war-ravaged Syria.
The top Russian diplomat said it was “difficult” to distinguish “normal opposition from terrorists” because the extremists were trying to use civilians “as a shield.”
SOURCE : ALARABIA
