BALADI NEWS
The Washington Post newspaper accused Bashar al-Assad -the head of the Syrian regime- and Vladimir Putin of being responsible for the Syrians' latest suffering, indicating that Assad and his Russian ally resumed bombing Idlib Province in north Syria, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to abandon their houses and flee towards Turkey's borders.
"SYRIAN DICTATOR Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies have for years pursued a bloody but systematic strategy for regaining control over rebel-held areas," the newspaper writes.
"The regime launches brutal assaults aimed at driving out civilians, deliberately bombing hospitals, schools and markets. After gaining some ground, it responds to international pressure by agreeing to a cease-fire. Then, after a few weeks or months of respite, it repeats the process," it says.
"The attack is the resumption of a push into the province that began last April and displaced more than 500,000 people before an August cease-fire. Humanitarian aid groups say the current offensive could soon double that number, leaving tens of thousands of people living in the open in harsh winter conditions," the Washington Post adds.
It pointed out that Turkey long ago sealed its border with Syria, meaning the refugees have no safe place to go.
Despite the fact that Idlib is controlled by an extremist offshoot of al-Qaeda, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Syrian and Russian tactics for reconquering the province are aimed mostly at innocent civilians, according to the newspaper.
The Washington Post quoted the Mr. Trump’s tweet as it indicated — “Turkey is working hard to stop this carnage” — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has the best chance of preventing the looming humanitarian catastrophe. He seems to be trying: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that scores of Turkish military vehicles crossed into Syria on Wednesday night. The Turks, at best, could use diplomacy and reinforcement of their existing outposts to curtail the offensive, while doing more to neutralize extremist forces.
Still, the newspaper concludes, it should be clear who is responsible for the latest wave of Syrian suffering: the Assad regime and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Congress recently approved new legislation sanctioning the Syrian government and all who do business with it, including Russia; legislators should insist that it be rigorously enforced.