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For the first time in more than five months, warplanes of the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) carried out airstrikes on positions of radical militants in the southern Idlib countryside.
The twenty airstrikes, which took place on the morning of on February 24, covered the towns of Sukayk, Tamana, Khwein, Zarzur and Khan Shaykhun, according to Syrian opposition sources.
The SyAAF halted its activates over the opposition-held areas in northwestern Syria following the Russian-Turkish demilitarized zone agreement on Idlib last September. This pause ended on February 24.
The aerial attack was likely a response to the repeated violations of the demilitarized zone agreement. In the last two weeks, militants shelled many residential areas in Lattakia, Hama and Aleppo, including Qurdaha, the hometown of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. At least one civilian was killed in these attacks.
The demilitarized zone agreement appears to be on the brink of collapse. Turkey has failed to fulfill its commitments to separate terrorists from the “moderate opposition”. If the agreement collapses, Damascus and its allies will likely opt for a limited military operation against Idlib’s militants.
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