Moscow says victory over terrorist groups in Idlib 'unavoidable'

MUNICH, Germany — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Saturday that victory over terrorist groups in Idlib was "unavoidable" as Moscow backs an intensifying military operation by the Syrian army on the last major rebel bastion.

"The victory over terrorists is unvoidable" 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 rebels 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 fighters were trying to use civilians "as a shield".

Earlier on Saturday, Lavrov met his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on the sidelines of the Munich gathering.

In a tweet, Cavusoglu described their meeting as "positive".

Tensions over Idlib soared after Damascus killed 14 Turks earlier this month.

The Turkish military has 12 observation posts in the northwestern province of Idlib, the last rebel-held bastion in Syria.

The posts were set up after a 2018 Russia-Turkey deal agreed in Sochi to prevent a regime offensive. But in recent months, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has pressed an assault supported by Russian air strikes.

After the Turks' deaths, Ankara and Moscow became embroiled in a war of words over who had not fulfilled the conditions of the Sochi deal.

Earlier on Saturday, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay insisted Ankara had “fulfilled its responsibilities” after Russia accused Turkey of failing to “neutralise terrorists” in Idlib.

The United Nations says 800,000 people have fled the region since December.

The Syrian army has made new gains in northwestern Syria on Friday, further chipping away at the country’s last major rebel pocket, a war monitor said.

The army is now securing areas along a key highway they seized from extremists and allied rebels this week.

On Friday, they pushed west of the M5 motorway which connects Syria’s four largest cities and is economically vital for the government, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

In an attempt to consolidate a “security belt” around the road, they seized a key base on Friday that they had lost to rebels in 2012, the Britain-based monitor said. 

Located 12 kilometres west of Aleppo city, Base 46 was the site of a brutal confrontation between government forces and rebels in the early phase of Syria’s civil war.