Syrian opposition preparing for possible regime expansion on al-Bab fronts
There are fears of a new military operation near al-Bab in Aleppo countryside, after the Syrian regime forces and their allied militias positioned there received fresh military reinforcements.
ALEPPO — The defense minister in the Syrian opposition's self-styled interim government, Maj. Gen. Salim Idris, said Feb. 22 that the opposition forces are ready to confront any military development in northwestern Syria.
“We affirm that the Free Syrian Army [FSA] is fully prepared to duly retaliate against any attacks on the liberated areas once they occur,” Idris said in a statement published by the Turkish-backed FSA's directorate of moral guidance.
Idris’ statement came only a few days after the Syrian regime forces and their allied militias dispatched military reinforcements to the fronts with the FSA around the city of al-Bab, in the northeastern Aleppo countryside.
Since mid-February, the regime forces have been bringing military reinforcements to the areas under their control south of al-Bab city. Military convoys carrying military equipment, including tanks, artillery and rocket launchers, have been flooding into the area.
