Idlib Governorate

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Feb. 27 reiterated his call for an "immediate ceasefire" in northwestern Syria following a deadly airstrike by Syrian regime forces on Turkish troops in Idlib province.

At least 33 Turkish soldiers have been killed and tens of others injured in an airstrike by forces of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Idlib, northwestern Syria, a Turkish official said on Feb. 28.

Syrian regime forces recaptured the symbolic town of Kafranbel in Idlib province, one of the first cities to rebel against the Damascus regime, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Five civilians died on Feb. 24 in Russian air strikes backing Syrian regime forces as they chip away at the country's last major rebel bastion, a war monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deadly raids hit the area of Jabal al-Zawiya in the south of Idlib province.

According to "Russia Today", the Turkish-funded militants have been targeting Syrian army positions.
The Russian ministry adds that Turkish forces ceased the attack after Moscow made contact with Ankara.
Turkey should suspend support for "terrorist groups" in Syria's Idlib province, Russia's Defense Ministry said.

As the Syrian war approaches its ninth year, half of the 22 million population has been displaced and more than six million of them had to leave the country.

In the south of the Idlib province, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from their homes due to bombings and attacks carried out by the regime.

Turkish and U.S. officials met on Feb. 12 in the capital Ankara to discuss the latest developments in northwestern Syria.

Deputy Defense Minister Yunus Emre Karaosmanoğlu, U.S. special envoy for Syria James Jeffrey and U.S. ambassador to Turkey Michael Satterfield exchanged views on regional security issues, especially the situation in Idlib province.

Scores of Syrian regime elements were "neutralized" on Feb. 12 in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, the Turkish Defense Ministry has said.

"According to information conveyed by several sources in Idlib region, it has been learned that 55 regime elements were neutralized today," said the statement.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 11 vowed that the Syrian regime, which attacked Turkish troops in northwestern Syria's Idlib province, would pay a "heavy price."

The president also said he would announce a series of new steps on Feb. 12 that Turkey would take against Bashar al-Assad's regime over attacks on Turkish soldiers in Idlib.

Turkey said it retaliated on Feb. 10 after intense shelling by Syrian forces killed five soldiers and wounded five others in Syria's northern Idlib province, a marked escalation a week after a similarly deadly clash between the two sides.