Turkish-backed militias in northern Syria have been unleashed by Ankara to attack Kurds in northern Syria amid the increased fighting in the country. Over the weekend, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an independent opposition group that controls Idlib province in Syria,

The US and NATO-backed war for regime change in Syria, launched in 2011, has been revived. Turkey, Syria’s northern neighbour and occupying power since 2016, is playing a major role.

Turkey could be one of the big winners from the new Syria crisis, giving it a chance to tackle its Syrian refugee problem and the Kurdish threat along its border, observers say.

The Syrian government, backed by Russian planes and their allies among pro-Iranian militias, has thwarted some rebel advances in the northern countryside around the city of Hama, a Syria commander told dpa on Tuesday.