Syria army ready to ‘solve’ Idlib problem: Kremlin

The Kremlin said Tuesday the Syrian army is getting ready to solve the problem of “terrorism” in the rebel stronghold of Idlib, apparently referring to a looming offensive.

“We know that the Syrian armed forces are getting ready to solve this problem,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling Idlib a “pocket of terrorism.” He did not release a time frame however.

Meanwhile, a Syrian rebel and an activist group said Russian air strikes had resumed against insurgents in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province Tuesday after several weeks.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has sworn to recapture every inch of Syria and has made big gains against rebels since Russia joined his war effort in 2015.

Last week, a source close to Damascus said the government was preparing a phased offensive to recover Idlib province, but Turkey, whose army has a string of observation posts around the edge of the rebel area, has warned against such an assault.

Russian air raids ceased in and around Idlib on August 15, but pro-Syrian government forces have maintained an aerial bombardment and shelling against rebels there, the activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.

The rebel source and the Observatory both said the air strikes were in the countryside near Jisr al-Shughour on the western edge of the rebels’ northwestern territory.

Russian, Turkish and Iranian leaders are due to meet on Sept. 7 in Iran and are expected to discuss the situation in northwestern Syria.