Trump warns Syria against Idlib offensive

International Desk: US President Donald Trump has warned the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian allies against "recklessly" attacking rebel-held Idlib province.

In a tweet he warned of "a grave humanitarian mistake" in which hundreds of thousands of people could be killed.

Syrian government forces are said to be preparing a huge offensive on the last major rebel stronghold in the country.

The UN says such a campaign could have disastrous consequences for thousands of civilians.

The US State Department also warned on Monday that Washington would respond to any chemical attacks by the Syrian government or its allies.

With rebels defeated in most of Syria, the offensive in the northern province could prove to be the last major battle of the Syrian civil war.

According to a UN estimate, there are about 10,000 al-Nusra and al-Qaeda jihadist fighters still holding out in Idlib.

Sources quoted by Reuters news agency said that President Bashar al-Assad was preparing a phased offensive.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said "terrorists" must be wiped out in Idlib, accusing them of using civilians as human shields.

Both he and his Syrian counterpart, Walid Muallem, have accused rebels of preparing to stage a chemical attack in Idlib in order to blame pro-government forces and draw new US military retaliation.

After more than seven years of fighting, more than 400,000 people are dead or missing, and more than half the population have been driven out of their homes.

Idlib has been a haven for rebels and their families evacuated out of areas won back by the government, but there is no obvious place for them to move to within Syria if they abandon the province now.

Any offensive on Idlib could raise tensions with Turkey, which maintains observation posts around rebel territory as part of a "de-escalation deal" with Russia and Iran.

Iran is to host a summit on Friday at which the leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey will discuss Idlib, Fars news agency reported.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Sep 4, 2018/Nasim