Russia and Turkey would both like to halt the fighting in Idlib. President Erdogan does not want another exodus across Turkey’s border
Eid al-Fitr holiday did not bring a respite for the almost 3m Syrians bottled up in Idlib. Warplanes buzzed overhead, as they have for more than a month, dropping ordnance on this scrubby province in north-western Syria, the last significant pocket of rebel-held territory. The offensive has already killed more than 300 people. Russian and Syrian jets have repeatedly bombed hospitals despite promises that they would be protected. Some 250,000 people have been displaced.
Most of the people in Idlib are internally displaced: they fled from one region to another as parts of Syria fell to the regime. The province has swelled to more than double its pre-war population. Mr Assad likes to portray it as a festering nest of jihadists. This is partly a problem of his own making. Rather than fight to retake every rebel-held pocket, he allowed some foes to surrender and granted them safe passage to Idlib.
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