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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed on Monday to continue the onslaught on the province of Idlib, the last rebel redoubt, as well as the countryside of Aleppo, suggesting a “final victory” was in sight.
“The liberation of the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib is continuing apart from some empty voices which is coming from the north,” Assad said in a televised speech that hinted at Turkey's threats to intervene if the advances by the Syrian army continue.
Turkey warned at the weekend that it would take further military action against Syrian government forces in north-western Idlib province, which borders Turkey.
Ankara wants to resolve the issue in Idlib through diplomatic channels, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday, adding: “If it is not possible, we will take the necessary steps.”


Turkey backs Syrian rebels in Syria, while Russia is a staunch ally of Assad.
In late April, the Syrian government and allied Russians launched a large-scale campaign to seize rebel-held areas in Western Aleppo and Idlib.
Although Russia and Turkey brokered a ceasefire in the area in January, the Syrian army and allied forces have continued their advances into Idlib.
Syrian government and allied forces have recently been making advances in the last rebel stronghold where intensified fighting killed several Turkish and Russian military personnel over the past two weeks.
Assad, referring to the liberation of areas in Western Aleppo on Monday, said: “We are aware that this liberation does not mean the end of the war or abolishing terrorism or surrendering the enemy … but it means we have smacked their noses in the sand ahead of the final victory.”


Assad praised the Syrian army and his allies for its achievements but added, “It is true that winning a battle does not mean winning a war”.
Earlier, the Syrian army announced the “liberation” of dozens of villages and towns in the western and north-western countryside of Aleppo after a series of “concentrated military operations”.
In a statement carried by state-run news agency SANA, the army pledged to continue its advances until all Syrian territory is liberated from “terrorists”, in reference to rebels fighting the Assad government.
Two hospitals in northern Syria's Aleppo province were forced to evacuate on Monday when they were hit by Russian air strikes, the spokesman of the White Helmets rescue team in the area said.
Ibrahim al-Haj, spokesman of White Helmets, said Russian warplanes carried out eight consecutive air strikes on the al-Kinana and al-Fardous hospitals in western Aleppo's Daret Ezze area.
Syria death toll tops 380,000 in almost nine-year war
Mazen Kiwara, a doctor with the Syrian-American Medical Society (SAMS), said al-Fardous hospital was directly hit and two of the hospital staff were slightly injured.
Meanwhile, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, Mark Lowcock, said that the situation in northwest Syria has reached a “horrifying new level.”
“We now believe 900,000 have been displaced since December 1, the vast majority women and children,” Lowcock said in a statement. 
He added that the violence in northwest Syria has hit health facilities, schools, residential areas, mosques and markets.
“The biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century will only be avoided if Security Council members, and those with influence, overcome individual interests and put a collective stake in humanity first. The only option is a ceasefire,” Lowcock said. 


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Syrian conflict

Syria’s Assad vows to continue Idlib onslaught, saying ‘final victory’ in sight

Syrian soldiers gesture in town of Kafar Hamra, in Syria’s Aleppo province, in an image released on Monday. Photo: SANA via Reuters

Turkey threatens to hit Syrian targets ‘anywhere’ as it masses tanks and commandos

A Turkish military mobile rocket launcher fires from a position in the countryside of the Syrian province of Idlib towards Syrian government forces' positions in the countryside of neighbouring Aleppo province. Photo: AFP

TOPSHOT - Syrians inspect the wreckage of a military helicopter belonging to government forces after it was shot down over the western countryside of Aleppo province on February 14, 2020. - A Syrian military helicopter was shot down over the last major rebel bastion in northwest Syria killing two pilots, a war monitor said, in the second such incident this week. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Turkish soldiers stand behind barbed wire at a Turkish military observation post in the town of Binnish in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, in the Syria-Turkey border on February 14, 2020, as people come to demonstrate before them. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

A Turkish military convoy passes along the M4 motorway by the town of Ariha, about 13 kilometres south of Idlib in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province on February 14, 2020. (Photo by Aref TAMMAWI / AFP)

‘A wind of madness is sweeping the globe,’ UN chief Antonio Guterres warns, citing tensions from Libya to Syria

A member of the Libyan government forces heads out to the front line from Misrata, Libya, on Monday. Photo: Reuters

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday. Photo: dpa

Syrian forces make fresh strategic advance despite warning from Turkish president

Trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria. Photo: Reuters

A picture taken on February 5, 2020, shows the aftermath of an air strike by pro-regime forces on the rebel-held town of Ariha in the northern countryside of Syria's Idlib province. - Syrian regime forces pressed on with their offensive in the northwest that has displaced half a million people, despite heightened tensions with Turkey. Intensive aerial bombardment and ground fighting in the jihadist-dominated Idlib region since December have killed almost 300 civilians and triggered one of the largest waves of displacement in the nine-year war. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

A Syrian man rides his motorcycle past a damaged building following an air strike by pro-regime forces on the rebel-held town of Ariha in the northern countryside of Syria's Idlib province on February 5, 2020. - Syrian regime forces pressed on with their offensive in the northwest that has displaced half a million people, despite heightened tensions with Turkey. Intensive aerial bombardment and ground fighting in the jihadist-dominated Idlib region since December have killed almost 300 civilians and triggered one of the largest waves of displacement in the nine-year war. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

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Turkey has threatened to take further military action against Syrian army if it continues to advance
UN says situation has reached ‘horrifying new level’, with 900,000 people displaced since December



UN says situation has reached ‘horrifying new level’, with 900,000 people displaced since December.


Syria’s Assad vows to continue Idlib onslaught, saying ‘final victory’ in sight

Turkey has threatened to take further military action against Syrian army if it continues to advance UN says situation has reached ‘horrifying new level’, with 900,000 people displaced since December

Turkey has threatened to take further military action against Syrian army if it continues to advance

UN says situation has reached ‘horrifying new level’, with 900,000 people displaced since December