Assad Says Idlib Liberation Will Not Take Long Militarily, Must Follow Civilian Evacuation

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th November, 2019) The liberation of the Syrian province of Idlib would not take long militarily, however, the start of the operation is impeded by militants who hinder the evacuation of civilians, whose safety is a priority for the government, President Bashar Assad said in an interview with the RT broadcaster.

"Militarily it will not take long time if we start to liberate Idlib, but actually what we do, our plan, is to give a chance for the civilians to leave, and that's what happening," Assad said.

Meanwhile, militants prevent civilians from leaving, so people have been literally "smuggled" from the area � "few families every week" since "they could be killed if they want to leave," he added.

According to the president, civilians seek to get to the south of Syria, controlled by the government forces, as well as the east.

He also stressed that airstrikes in Idlib, conducted with Russia's support, only targeted terrorists' facilities.

"Our interest lies in killing the terrorists in order to protect the civilians, not leaving those civilians, innocents, under the supervision of the terrorists and being killed by the terrorists," Assad stressed.

In August, the Syrian government conducted a military operation, during which it seized parts of Hama and Idlib provinces that had been controlled by militants since 2014, including the strategic city of Khan Sheikhoun, and also gained access to the M5 highway linking Damascus and Aleppo.

However, Idlib still remains a major terrorist stronghold, being home to much more than an estimated 10,000 terrorists from various groups, the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team told Sputnik last week.