Dozens have been killed in a Russian bombing of a training camp for a pro-Ankara Syrian faction in Idlib, in an escalation that is the most violent since the ceasefire took effect

At least 78 fighters from a pro-Ankara Syrian faction were killed Monday as a result of Russia’s raids on a training camp in northwestern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in an escalation that is the most violent since a ceasefire took effect about eight months ago.

A truce has been in effect in Idlib and parts of neighboring provinces since March 6, a truce declared by Moscow, an ally of Damascus, and Turkey, which supported the fighting factions, after a massive attack by the Syrian Army.

According to the observatory, Russian planes targeted the headquarters of the “Sham Legion”, which is close to Turkey, in the Jabal al Duwailah region northwest of Idlib, killing at least 78 fighters and wounding more than ninety others, while others are still trapped under the rubble.

A previous toll by the observatory had counted at least 56 fighters killed.

“What happened was the most violent escalation since the truce took effect, with the largest toll ever recorded,” Rami Abdel-Rahman, director of the observatory, told AFP.

He explained that the targeted site was a headquarters that had been newly equipped as a training camp, and that it was bombed while dozens of fighters inside it were undergoing a training course.

The Islamic “Sham Legion” constitutes a major component of the National Liberation Front, a gathering of opposition and fighting factions in Idlib.

The front merged a year ago with the “Euphrates Shield” factions, operating in the north and northeast of the country, under the umbrella of the “National Army” supported by Turkey.

The media official at the front, Saif al Raad, confirmed to AFP that Russia had targeted the headquarters, without specifying the final death toll.

He condemned, “Russia’s aviation and the Syrian Army forces have continued to violate the Turkish-Russian agreement with targeting military sites, villages and towns”.

The ceasefire that has continued since March was followed by a three-month attack by the Syrian Army, which caused the displacement of about one million people, of whom about 235,000 have returned to their areas since January, the majority of them after the ceasefire despite repeated violations, the truce is still holding. 

According to Abdul-Rahman, Russia conducts raids from time to time against what it considers military targets, and has not excluded the factions close to Ankara. 

The strikes also killed civilians.

The Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (formerly the al Nusra Front) currently controls about half of Idlib and limited areas adjacent to the governorates of Hama, Aleppo and Latakia.

The region, which is home to 3 million people, about half of whom are displaced, is also active in less powerful fighting factions.

The region is exposed from time to time to raids by several parties, the most recent of which was the US bombing on Thursday, killing 17 jihadists, including leaders of a militant organization linked to al Qaeda, in addition to at least five civilians, according to the Observatory.

The Idlib region is one of the most prominent areas outside the control of Damascus, which has always reiterated its desire to regain it through battles or settlement.

Moscow and Ankara concluded several truce agreements, which were followed by the control of the fighting factions since 2015, most notably the Sochi Agreement signed in September 2018.

Under the agreement, Turkey deployed 12 observation points in and around Idlib, of which the Syrian Army forces have surrounded a number of them. 

This month, Ankara evacuated the largest of those points near the town of Morek in the northern Hama countryside, without it being clear the reasons for this.

There was no comment from Ankara about the withdrawal or the direction of its forces, especially as it repeatedly confirmed its unwillingness to withdraw from any of its observation points.

Syria is witnessing a bloody conflict that, since its outbreak more than nine years ago, has caused the death of more than 380,000 people and widespread destruction of the infrastructure, in addition to the displacement and displacement of millions inside and outside Syria.

The rounds of negotiations sponsored by the United Nations between the Syrian government and opposition delegations since 2014 have not yielded a settlement to the devastating conflict.

“The Syrian people are going through a very difficult period, during which they are suffering,” said the special international envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, after his meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al Muallem in Damascus on Sunday.

He stressed that “certainly, there is one way out for that, which is to start implementing the Security Council resolution and focus on the political process”.

Pedersen, who said he would meet representatives of the opposition, is facilitating negotiations in Geneva between the two parties to the conflict over the Syrian constitution.

The international envoy from Damascus hoped “to find more common ground on how to push this process forward” to settle the conflict.