The Syrian army has rushed in reinforcements to strike Idlib in an attempt to halt the advance of rebels who have retaken Aleppo from murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad over the weekend.  

The insurgents, led by Salafi jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, took over most of Aleppo on Saturday and claimed to have entered the city of Hama. There was no independent confirmation of their claim.

The swift and surprise offensive is a huge embarrassment for Syrian President Bashar Assad and raises questions about his troops’ preparedness. It also comes at a time when Mr Assad’s allies – Iran and groups it backs and Russia – are preoccupied with their own conflicts. But despite this, Russia has provided significant support in the form of deadly missiles, which today killed eight civilians in Idlib, including two children and a woman. 

The missiles also injured over 50 people. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to the Syrian capital, Damascus, later today. He told reporters that Tehran will back the Syrian government and army.

Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, expressed their solidarity with Damascus in calls with Mr Assad.

Turkey, a main backer of Syrian opposition groups, said its diplomatic efforts had failed to stop Syrian government attacks on opposition-held areas in recent weeks.

The UK Foreign Office said the situation is the fault of Assad for relying on Russia and Iran as it called for a ‘Syrian-led political solution to the conflict’. 

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nearly 400 people have been killed since Wednesday, including nearly 50 civilians. 

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