BEIRUT: Syrian government forces looked set to recover a strategic town that has been in rebel hands since 2014 in a major Russian-backed offensive into the opposition’s last major stronghold. An organisation that monitors the war and a pro-Damascus military source said insurgents had withdrawn from Khan Sheikhoun overnight, though the main insurgent group in the area said rebels still held part of the town and fighting continued. Capturing Khan Sheikhoun would be an important gain for President Bashar al Assad into the northwestern region where his bid to recover “every inch” of Syria has hit complications including Turkish forces on the ground.
Syrian state media, in a broadcast from near the town, reported that government forces had widened their control including by seizing a highway running through Khan Sheikhoun, which was targeted in a sarin gas attack in 2017. The pro-Damascus military source said the town was under army control after the rebels were caught in a pincer movement and fled. “There are some pockets and explosive devices, there are a few who refuse to withdraw and want to die,” the source said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitoring group, said rebels had withdrawn from their last piece of territory in neighbouring Hama province in addition to Khan Sheikhoun.
The most powerful insurgent group in the area, Hayat Tahrir al Sham, denied this and said the battle continued. In a statement on its Telegram channel, Hayat Tahrir al Sham said rebels still held part of Khan Sheikhoun and nearby areas in northern Hama despite what it described as a redeployment in the town after fierce enemy bombardment. The Observatory and the pro-Damascus military source said Syrian rebels had withdrawn to a Turkish military position in the town of Morek, to the south of Khan Sheihkoun in Hama province.
Negotiations were under way between Turkey and Russia over the withdrawal of the Turkish position, the pro-Damascus source said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey would not remove the observation post located near Morek. — Reuters
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