The offensive of the pro-Turkish jihadist rebels has consolidated in Aleppo and northern Syria, but has stopped in the central part of the country. The raids of the government and Russian forces have slowed the attacks .
Meanwhile, Bashar al Assad , indicated as the victim of a possible coup, has reappeared in the media. As soon as he returned from Moscow, he met with the Iranian Foreign Minister in Damascus, reiterating his government's will to "fight and crush terrorists" in every corner of the country.
Iranian-backed militias meanwhile entered Syria from Iraq overnight and are heading north to support government forces fighting rebels.
While waiting for confirmation or denial of the killing, in a Russian air raid on Idlib, of Abu Muhammad Jolani, leader of the jihadist coalition and protagonist of this new bloody phase of the Syrian war, on the ground the insurgents supported by Turkey have interrupted their march southwards, stationing themselves on the outskirts of Hama, about 200 kilometres to the north .
Here the vanguards of militiamen have been repeatedly targeted by Russian and government air raids , particularly near the key city of Morek, where they had regrouped after an initial fleeting exploration in the center of Hama. The other hot front was the one inside Aleppo and to the north of the tormented Syrian metropolis, which in the last seven years has always remained firmly in the hands of government forces but is now almost entirely under jihadist control. There remain some northern districts inhabited and dominated by local Kurdish forces, an expression of the Syrian wing of the anti-Turkish PKK, effectively besieged by pro-Ankara factions.
In the far south of Syria, however, where anti-government insurgents had mobilized, no further violence has been reported, a sign that confirms, at least for now, the fragmentation of the internal anti-Assad front.
According to the National Observatory for Human Rights, more than 400 people have been killed since last Wednesday, 60 of them civilians, including women and children . The UN, which reiterated its serious concern for the dramatic developments underway in the country, has documented the displacement of around 15,000 civilians , but the vast majority of the population in the areas affected by the escalation of violence have so far remained in their homes. Also because moving from Aleppo to Damascus is very difficult due to the interruption of the main communication artery between the north and the rest of Syria.
The humanitarian situation is worsening by the hour. Testimonies from Aleppo say that for two days there has been no water and gasoline, just as there is no bread . Electricity, coming from the national grid managed by the central government, arrives only for a few hours a day.
A first group of Italians managed to be evacuated with the UN and reached the Syrian capital, while others should leave today with another convoy .
(Online Union)
