“In the months that followed a drone strike on a Syrian military academy in Homs province in October, killing 100 people, villages close to the opposition frontlines in Idlib province have been subject to almost daily bombardment by regime artillery.
Fadel Abdul Ghany, chairman and founder of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), said the punitive bombing campaign is designed to inflict as much harm and economic disruption to opposition Idlib, amid growing anger about Bashar al-Assad’s rule in regime areas.
Assad does not want anyone to build a sustainable or ordinary life in areas outside regime control. If this life exists in SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) or opposition areas, that will give an example for Syrians to move to these territories and also give the international community a reason to support these areas, he told The New Arab.
Without this (international) support, opposition areas will not be allowed to thrive and the people will not feel stable. This is the aim of Assad and he wants to seize the opportunity when any major international crisis emerges to launch full-scale attacks on Idlib.”
