ANSD : Syrian troops regain control of Kafr Nbouda

THU 21 - 11 - 2024

Date: May 27, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Syrian troops regain control of Kafr Nbouda

DAMASCUS / AMMAN: Syrian government forces regained control of a northwestern village Sunday, just days after losing it to militants, state media and an opposition war monitoring group said. State TV said troops captured Kafr Nbouda before noon from militants, including members of Al-Qaeda-linked Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham group. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that militants lost control of the village.

The latest round of violence erupted late last month, wrecking a cease-fire brokered for the area by Russia and Turkey and raising fears of a wider government offensive. It has been the biggest escalation since last summer between Assad and his enemies in Idlib province and a belt of territory around it.

Some 180,000 people have already been displaced inside the rebel-held area that straddles most of northwestern Idlib province and parts of neighboring Hama. The U.N., the U.S. and others have called for an end to the violence.

An airstrike Sunday killed at least four civilians, including a child, in the center of Maaret al-Numan city, the Observatory reported.

Government forces first captured Kafr Nbouda on May 8, then lost it Wednesday. The village is located on the southwestern edge of Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in the country. The Observatory said Syrian government forces carried out scores of airstrikes, and used barrels bombs and artillery shells to retake the village. It said the latest round of Kafr Nbouda fighting killed 28 militants, and also 16 troops and pro-government gunmen.

The initial capture of the village facilitated government troop advances to the west and north, leading to the fall of several villages.

The Observatory said that 766 people, including 226 civilians have been killed since April 30.

Ankara stepped up supplies in recent days after failing to persuade Russia in recent meetings of a joint working group that it should end its escalation to avert a major influx of refugees pouring into Turkey, two senior opposition figures said Saturday. In doing so Turkey signaled its readiness to preserve its influence in northwestern Syria, where it has beefed up its troop presence in a dozen military bases that were set up under the de-escalation deal, a senior rebel commander said.

Overnight Saturday, a Turkish military convoy arrived at a base in northern Hama near Jabal Zawiyeh, where Russian and Syrian jets have been pounding for weeks, a rebel and a witness said.

The delivery of dozens of armored vehicles, Grad rocket launchers, anti-tank guided missiles and so-called TOW missiles. The TOW missile had been the most potent weapon in the arsenal of rebel groups battling Assad during the conflict. It was extended by Western and Arab foes of Assad until a CIA-led program of military support to help moderate rebels was suspended in 2017.

A Western intelligence source said Washington had given a “greenlight” for the Turkey-backed mainstream rebels to use the TOW missiles, which had been in storage in the latest campaign.

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