Syrian regime and allies push towards Idlib province

The Syrian regime army and Iranian-backed militias backed by Russian air power stepped up a military campaign against rebels in eastern Hama province in a push towards the rebel stronghold of Idlib province in northwestern Syria, rebels and witnesses said.

They said dozens of aerial strikes believed to be conducted mainly by Russian jets in the last 48 hours hit opposition held villages and towns in the northeastern Hama countryside and the southern part of Idlib province.

The Al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al Sham, a rebel alliance formerly known as the Nusra Front, and some Free Syrian Army (FSA) faction in control of these areas said they were sending reinforcements to seize back a string of villages in the northeastern Hama countryside, near the town of Rihjan, that the regime army had earlier announced were captured in heavy fighting.

The regime army said the villages of Um Turayka, Bilil, and Rujum al Ahmar were seized, forcing the rebels to flee to areas close to the administrative boundaries of Idlib province.

Drive for military airport

The Syrian regime army had lost the strategically located Idlib province to insurgents when the provincial capital fell to rebels in 2015. It has since become the only province that is fully under opposition control.

The Syrian regime army's first goal was to retake strategic Abu al Dhour military airport, one of the largest airports in the north of the country that fell to rebels in 2015. It was heavily bombed on Sunday, a rebel source said.

"The regime movements seek to besiege Idlib province with the help of Shia militias fighting with them," said Colonel Mustafa Bakour, a commander in the Jaish al Izza rebel faction.

Tahrir al Sham, which is spearheaded by the former al Qaeda branch in Syria, is the main rebel force in the province, raising fears among civilians and rebels alike that Moscow and the Syrian regime army and its allies would soon turn it into a major battlefield.

Rebels' safe heaven

The strategically located province that borders Turkey is part of the Russian-led de-escalation zones that seek to shore up ceasefires in western Syria.

Idlib has been a haven for tens of thousands of rebels and civilians who were forced to abandon their homes in other parts of western Syria that the regime and its foreign military allies have recaptured from rebels.

It has already been the target of intensive strikes by the Russia and Syrian regime air forces in the past year that have killed thousands of civilians and destroyed hospitals and civil defense centers.

Tahrir al Sham also repelled simultaneously an offensive by Daesh militants who have been for the last few weeks pushing into the opposition-controlled territory to extend a small enclave they have in that area, among the few they retain across Syria.

The militants also seized a string of villages that brought them within kilometres of Idlib province.

Since October, Turkey also has increased military deployment in the province it considers within its sphere of influence.

Ankara's intervention seeks to rein in Russian strikes and prevent Idlib from facing a similar fate to Mosul or Aleppo, according to a senior rebel commander briefed on Turkish policy.

UN peace talks

Meanwhile the Syrian regime delegation has returned to Geneva to continue the United Nations sponsored peace talks on Sunday, but Western diplomats voiced scepticism about its willingness to engage.

The United Nations mediator Staffan de De Mistura convened an eighth round of separate talks with the regime and unified opposition delegations on November 28, focusing on constitutional reform as well as elections.

But the regime's chief negotiator Bashar al Jaafari arrived a day late and left after two days left in protest after the first phase of talks ended on December 1.

He blamed the opposition for putting preconditions  and insisting that Assad not take an interim role during a political transition period. 

On Monday, negotiations are expected to focus on a new constitution and fair elections. 

"The opposition has been extremely constructive and willing to get down to it," a senior Western diplomat said. "They are in a difficult place while being criticised internally and pressured by the fact that the regime is bombing away in eastern Ghouta and other places."

The diplomat said that the government's failure to return as scheduled on December 5 had been "a clear sign of not being interested in engaging in the political process".