It was not Turks who attacked Russia's bases: Putin

Syrian army offensive in Idlib worries France, wants Astana deal respected

Idlib province is nearly entirely controlled by a jihadi outfit known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) consisting mostly of fighters from a former al-Qaida affiliate.

The recent military escalation in western Syria has included an unprecedented attack by a squadron of drones on Russian military bases and has cast a shadow over Moscow's efforts to convene a Syria peace congress later this month.

If it is recaptured, the airport will be "the first military base in the hands of the regime in Idlib province", said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

The fighting in Idlib has forced almost 100,000 people to flee since early December, the United Nations says.

Russian-backed regime forces launched an offensive at the end of 2017 on the edge of Idlib province, the last in the country still fully outside the government's control.

The U.N. agency said the situation in Idlib was "extremely chaotic" with newly displaced people reportedly scattered across open areas.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said regime forces were able to enter Abu Duhur airbase under air cover and were engaged in fierce fighting with the jihadists. The attack also aims to secure the road liking the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest.

The International Rescue Committee said it had received hundreds of people newly displaced from the latest fighting in Idlib, many of them housed in makeshift tents. "The fear affected our brains", said the mother, quoted by the IRC.

Lowcock said he was "deeply anxious about civilians affected by the upsurge in violence in Idlib". FSA rebels and the Nusra Front had been reported to have been fighting.

Syria's war began in 2011, when an armed uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime erupted as anti-government protests were brutally crushed.

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