IDLIB GOVERNORATE, SYRIA (SEPTEMBER 8, 2018) – After the long-awaited buildup of Syrian Army Reinforcements to the southern borders of Idlib, divisions of the Syrian Arab Republic announce that preparations for the looming battle have finished.
With the Idlib Governorate being held as one of the first main centers of opposition to the Syrian Government, and remaining of the last to be so, the Syrian Arab Army will undoubtedly go through more resistance than any other battle previously encountered in the past years. Upon this, the factions in Idlib also have major support from Turkey, a powerful ally of which has observatories located in close proximity to the front-lines. The Idlib military factions also enjoy a large foundation of support from overwhelmingly most NATO countries. The grassroots organization of the opposition is fiercely concentrated into this region, as it is among the last major regions the groups have actual military control over. Idlib also enjoys a variety of strong concentration of battle-hardened fighters from all around the country, among them members who agreed to surrender from multiple governorates around Syria and have agreed to be transported to Idlib.
The Syrian Arab Army, although not receiving much support in the West, enjoys its own array of favoring, that of which includes military assistance by Russia through precise airstrikes and servicemen, logistical information and supplication from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah, as well as its own set of grassroot popular mobilizations.
Among the recent escalations comes proxy involvement, where the United States’ Permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley, along with US President Donald Trump, have both issues a warning of which the US and allies will respond strongly to any allegations of chemical weapon usage by the Syrian Government in the Idlib Governorate. Reports have emerged from the Russian Kremlin that the Idlib factions are preparing their own set of chemical weapons in order to sabotage the maintained equilibrium between the Syrian Government and the United States, stating that attack may be imminent.
Regardless of either side’s capabilities, the battles looming ahead are to be, for a period of time, consequential to both warring factions.
