A wave of airstrikes has pummelled hospitals and neighbourhoods in the rebel-held region of Idlib in northern Syria as Islamist insurgents continued to battle forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad after the militants’ lightning assault on Aleppo.
White Helmets civil defence forces based in Idlib, from where the insurgents had launched their attack, said Russian airstrikes had struck five healthcare facilities including a maternity hospital. At least 18 people were killed and 35 injured, they said, adding that they feared numbers could rise.
Russia, along with Iran, is a key backer of Assad and entered the Syrian civil war nearly a decade ago in support of his regime. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaeil told reporters on Monday that Tehran would continue to deploy military personnel to support Damascus “in accordance with the wishes” of the government.
Video from Idlib showed plumes of smoke rising over the city, streets covered in ash and cars on fire in a residential neighbourhood. In a photo shared by the White Helmets, a pile of rubble and cement was visible in a crater in a hospital courtyard.
“No one was prepared for bombardments on this scale over such a large area,” said Ismail Alabdullah, of the White Helmets. “Just now there was an attack on the city hospital in Idlib. Two people died as it caused the oxygen supply to the hospital to break down.”
Earlier on Monday, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias reportedly crossed into eastern Syria in an attempt to shore up struggling forces loyal to Damascus, battling an insurgency that has swept much of the country’s north-west as Islamist militants seized control of Aleppo.
The defence ministry in Damascus said it had deployed military reinforcements to Hama – where fierce fighting was reported to the city’s north – and other flashpoints as they attempted to mount a counterattack.
An officer with the Syrian army told Reuters that the Iraqi militia forces crossing the border were “fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the frontlines in the north”. The Iraqi militants, which include fighters from Kataib Hezbollah and Fatemiyoun groups, arrived near the eastern Syrian town of Bukamal overnight to join units already deployed within Syria.
Muqdad Miri, a spokesperson for the Iraqi interior ministry, denied that any units from the Iraqi militias had crossed into Syria, calling reports “fabricated talk” that had spread on social media.
Forces loyal to Assad were unexpectedly swept from Syria’s second city over the weekend after an offensive spearheaded by Islamist militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who claimed swaths of new territory across northern Syria alongside rebel groups backed by Turkey.
The rout of Syrian army forces from Aleppo, amid reports their defensive lines crumbled in the face of the advance, undermined Assad’s already fractured control of the country, which has relied heavily on support from Moscow and Tehran. As battles flared across north-western Syria with insurgents attempting to move south, Assad’s allies attempted to shore up support for Damascus, fuelling an already years-long proxy war.
The Syrian president moved to crush a popular uprising against him in 2011, which quickly spiralled into a bloody civil war. Damascus employed air support from Russia during a prolonged battle to retake Aleppo that ended in 2016, while Assad also deployed chemical weapons and siege tactics against his own people.
Damascus has remained dependent on Iranian ground troops as well as backing from Iranian-allied Iraqi militias to support flagging Syrian army forces in its attempt to keep control of the country.
The sudden loss of Aleppo left Assad and his regional partners, as well as their opponents, scrambling to adjust. After a meeting with Assad in Damascus on Sunday evening, the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, labelled their talks a “useful, frank and friendly” discussion, adding that the Syrian president had “admirable … courage and spirit”.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Monday pledged “unconditional support” for Assad’s control of Syria during a phone conversation.
The US and the United Arab Emirates meanwhile held talks to discuss lifting sanctions on Assad if he were to cut ties with Iran and stop the flow of weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to five sources that spoke to Reuters.
The sources said the insurgents’ sweeping advance had shown a weakness in Assad’s partnership with Iran that could be exploited, although this could be undermined should Assad look to Tehran for further assistance in the mounting counteroffensive.
Nearly 50,000 people have been displaced in Syria in recent days, with the situation remaining “highly fluid”, the UN’s humanitarian agency said Monday.
The US state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said in a briefing on Monday that Assad was “a brutal dictator with blood on his hands, the blood of innocent civilians” and that Washington’s stance on his rule had not changed. He said the US wanted to see a de-escalation of fighting, and negotiations between the government in Damascus and opposition forces to end the civil war.
US sanctions on Syria remained fully in effect, he added, despite a looming potential expiry date later this month. “The Syrian regime has shown no change in behaviour that would indicate that our sanctions should change,” he said.
The Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, also discussed the sudden changes in Syria with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, telling him that “Syria’s security and stability are closely linked to Iraq’s national security and play a crucial role in regional security”, according to his office.
Araghchi arrived in Ankara for talks with the Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, early on Monday morning. Ankara had previously made public overtures towards Damascus while backing rebel groups along Syria’s northern border. “We do not want to see an escalation of the civil war in Syria,” said Fidan after their meeting, and called for Damascus to “reconcile with its own people and legitimate opposition”.
With Islamist opposition militants in control of Aleppo, the White Helmets said they had expanded their rescue efforts there after Syrian and Russian strikes on the city. An airstrike targeted a central neighbourhood of Aleppo for the second day in a row, causing material damage and sparking fears about further reprisals by Damascus.
Alabdullah said: “We have a team in Aleppo and we’re doing everything we can to respond, but the regime is still bombing so we know we are going to face more difficulties. The situation is very difficult.”
Fuad, a university lecturer living in western Aleppo who requested a pseudonym for his own safety, said Aleppo’s new rulers had asked people to remain at home “for their safety, and to protect their property … people were allowed to go out to get food and necessities”.
“I heard they gave reassurances to residents that they will be safe, which is really important at this stage as people are scared,” he said.
The White Helmets said they had also broadened their operations to try to assist tens of thousands of displaced people to return to their homes across north-western Syria. “Supporting the return of forcibly displaced Syrians to their homes is one of our top priorities,” they said in a statement.
Oubadah Alwan, a spokesperson for the White Helmets, said it advocated caution in their returns because of unexploded ordnance. “Our teams are working to clear and secure areas after attacks, but of course with so many attacks happening they are spread thin,” he said.
