29. Mai 2020

Die Stadt Saraqeb im Osten der Provinz Idlib befindet sich laut mehreren Quellen seit Anfang März 2020 unter der Kontrolle der syrischen Regierung (Xinhua, 2. März 2020; Jamestown Foundation, 6. April 2020; REACH Initiative, 16. März 2020, S. 2).

Am 27. Februar 2020 sei es den Rebellen mithilfe der türkischen Armee gelungen, die Stadt unter ihre Kontrolle zu bringen (taz, 27. Februar 2020; AP, 27. Februar 2020), sie sei aber nach wenigen Tagen am 2. März von den Regierungstruppen zurückerobert worden (Xinhua, 2. März 2020).

Die Stadt Saraqeb gilt wegen der Verkehrsachse Damaskus – Aleppo als strategisch wichtiger Ort (Xinhua, 2. März 2020), eine Rückeroberung von Saraqeb durch die Regierungstruppen sei erst Anfang Februar 2020 erfolgt (taz, 27. Februar 2020). Damit sei es die letzte zurückeroberte Stadt an der Autobahn M5 gewesen, die sich zuvor noch in der Hand der Rebellen befunden habe. Dieser Abschnitt der Autobahn sei erst wenige Tage vor dem Rebellenangriff zum ersten Mal seit 2012 wieder von der Regierung eröffnet worden (AP, 27. Februar 2020).

Die Jamestown Foundation verweist in diesem Zusammenhang auf die Mitte Dezember 2019 begonnene Regierungsoffensive zur Rückeroberung der von den Rebellen kontrollierten Teile der Provinz Idlib, die erst durch einen Waffenstillstand am 5. März 2020 beendet worden sei. In dem Abkommen habe die Türkei dem syrischen Präsidenten Assad im Wesentlichen die Zugewinne der Regierungsoffensive überlassen, darunter auch die wichtige Stadt Saraqeb, an der sich die Autobahnen M4 und M5 kreuzen. Dieselbe Quelle erwähnt auch die Schließung der Grenzen und ein Reiseverbot, das die Regierung Ende März verhängt habe. (Jamestown Foundation, 6. April 2020)

Auch REACH, eine Initiative der humanitären NGOs IMPACT und ACTED sowie des operativen UN-Satellitenanwendungsprogramm UNOSAT verweist auf die Verluste der Rebellen im Rahmen der Offensive der Regierung und auf das Abkommen zwischen der Türkei und Russland vom 5. März (REACH Initiative, 16. März 2020, S. 2). Die folgende Karte von REACH zeigt die Stadt Saraqeb in der Zone jener Gebiete, die die oppositionellen Kräfte zwischen Dezember 2019 und 10. März 2020 verloren haben:

[Bild entfernt] (Karte zu Veränderungen des von der Opposition kontrollierten Gebietes; Quelle: REACH Initiative, 16. März 2020, S. 2)

Quellen: (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 29. Mai 2020)

·      AP – Associated Press: Syrian opposition fighters retake key town from government, 27. Februar 2020
https://local21news.com/news/nation-world/syrian-opposition-fighters-retake-key-town-from-government

·      Jamestown Foundation: Coronavirus and Continued Conflict Push Syria Into Greater Chaos; Terrorism Monitor Volume: 18 Issue: 7, 6. April 2020
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2028324.html

·      REACH Initiative: Northwest Syria: Situation Overview - 16 March 2020, 16. März 2020 (veröffentlicht von ReliefWeb)
https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/REACH_SYR_Situation-Overview_Northwest-Syria_16-March-2020-1.pdf

·      taz: Erfolg für Rebellen und Türkei, 27. Februar 2020
https://taz.de/Krieg-in-Syrien/!5667747/

·      Xinhua: Syrian army recaptures strategic Saraqeb city in Idlib, 2. März 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/02/c_138835840.htm

 

Anhang: Ausschnitte mit Informationen aus den verwendeten Quellen

·      AP – Associated Press: Syrian opposition fighters retake key town from government, 27. Februar 2020
https://local21news.com/news/nation-world/syrian-opposition-fighters-retake-key-town-from-government

„Turkey-backed Syrian opposition fighters on Thursday retook a strategic northwestern town in Syria that was recently captured by government forces, and cut the highway linking the capital, Damascus, with the northern city of Aleppo days after the government reopened it for the first time since 2012.

The retaking of Saraqeb which sits on the highway is a setback for Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces who have scored major gains in a weeks long Russian-backed campaign in the last rebel stronghold in Idlib province. Officials had hailed the reopening of the motorway, known as the M5, as a major victory in the nine-year conflict.

The government's military campaign to recapture Idlib, the last opposition-held stronghold in the country, has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe and the war's largest single wave of displacement. According to the U.N. almost 950,000 civilians have been displaced since early Decembers, and more than 300 have been killed. Most have fled further north to safer areas near the Turkish border, overwhelming camps already crowded with refugees in cold winter weather.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitoring group, said the opposition fighters seized the town of Saraqeb after intense bombardment by Turkish troops. Turkey and Russia support opposite sides in Syria's brutal civil war, with Ankara backing the opposition and Moscow backing Assad.

[…] Backed by Russian air power, Assad's forces have over the past few days captured dozens of villages, including major rebel strongholds in the last opposition-held area. The campaign also seized the last segments of the south-north M5 highway. When the government forces first took Saraqeb earlier this month, it marked their capture of the last major rebel-held town along the highway.” (AP, 27. Februar 2020)

·      Jamestown Foundation: Coronavirus and Continued Conflict Push Syria Into Greater Chaos; Terrorism Monitor Volume: 18 Issue: 7, 6. April 2020
https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/2028324.html

„In mid-December 2019, the pro-Assad coalition attacked Idlib again. Within two months, 900,000 people had been displaced (United Nations, February 18). Despite the “observation posts” that Turkey has throughout Idlib, it seemed Ankara had no will to defend the province, even as 21 soldiers were killed by the pro-Assad coalition (The New Arab, February 10). [1] Then, on February 27, 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike (Rudaw, February 29). This could not be ignored. Within hours, Turkey used drones to clear the skies over Idlib and attacked Assad’s troops and the Shi’a militias controlled by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), including Lebanese Hezbollah. Turkey escalated the aerial campaign even further after midnight on February 29/March 1, when the deadline Ankara set for a regime withdrawal south to the “Sochi Line” expired.

Dubbed Spring Shield (Bahar Kalkani), Turkey’s operation inflicted an average of 50 confirmable fatalities on the Assad/Iranian forces per day until a new Turkey-Russia ceasefire was worked out on March 5 (Twitter.com/GregoryPWaters, March 7). The terms of the ceasefire did not reflect the leverage Turkey had built by demonstrating the essential hollowness of the pro-Assad coalition (Daily Sabah, March 13).

Turkey essentially allowed the pro-Assad coalition to keep the gains from its December-February offensive, covering the south of the “Greater Idlib” pocket up to the M4 Highway that runs east-west from Aleppo city to the coast, including the crucial town of Saraqeb, where the M4 crosses with the M5 (running north-south from Aleppo to Damascus), which the Assad/Iran system also got to keep. The pro-Assad coalition is thus within easy striking distance of Idlib city when this ceasefire inevitably breaks down, and if the provincial capital is lost it might well unravel Turkey’s position in northern Syria altogether.

[…] The Assad regime has instituted a travel ban—between cities and across borders—and a 6PM to 6AM curfew, which has the same limitations as the one in Rojava.” (SANA, March 24; Al-Modon, March 23).” (Jamestown Foundation, 6. April 2020)

·      REACH Initiative: Northwest Syria: Situation Overview - 16 March 2020, 16. März 2020 (veröffentlicht von ReliefWeb)
https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/REACH_SYR_Situation-Overview_Northwest-Syria_16-March-2020-1.pdf

„18 December 2019 - 4 March 2020: Conflict intensifies, leading to a significant reduction in opposition-controlled territory.

5 March 2020 - present: Conflict stabilizes after peace treaty signed between Turkey and Russia on 5 March, which solidified significant territorial gains by the Government of Syria in Idleb and western Aleppo.” (REACH Initiative, 16. März 2020, S. 2)

·      taz: Erfolg für Rebellen und Türkei, 27. Februar 2020
https://taz.de/Krieg-in-Syrien/!5667747/

„Im Kampf um Syriens letzte große Rebellenhochburg in der Provinz Idlib haben Regierungsgegner mit türkischer Unterstützung einen strategisch wichtigen Ort zurückerobert. Oppositionelle Milizen hätten die Stadt Sarakeb unter Kontrolle gebracht, meldete die Syrische Beobachtungsstelle für Menschenrechte am Donnerstagmorgen. Die oppositionelle Syrische Nationalarmee bestätigte die Angaben. Türkische Artillerie habe die Regierungstruppen massiv beschossen und damit das Einrücken der Rebellen in die Stadt ermöglicht. Russlands staatliche Nachrichtenagentur dementierte, doch aktuelle Videos in sozialen Netzwerken belegen den Einmarsch.

Die Truppen von Syriens Machthaber Baschar al-Assad hatten Sarakeb Anfang Februar eingenommen. Mit der Rückeroberung unterbrachen die Rebellen jetzt erneut die zentrale Verkehrsachse zwischen Damaskus und Aleppo, deren vollständige Kontrolle durch das Regime ein Hauptziel der bisherigen Offensiven gegen die Rebellen in Idlib gewesen war.“ (taz, 27. Februar 2020)

·      Xinhua: Syrian army recaptures strategic Saraqeb city in Idlib, 2. März 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/02/c_138835840.htm

„The Syrian army succeeded on Monday to recapture the strategic city of Saraqeb in the eastern countryside of Idlib province in northwestern Syria, a war monitor reported. Backed by Russian airstrikes, the Syrian forces captured Saraqeb, four days after losing it to the Turkey-backed rebel groups, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Meanwhile, battles are taking place on the outskirts of the city as the Turkey-backed rebels are trying to re-enter the city. Saraqeb has a strategic significance as it overlooks the M5 road, known locally as the international highway. The M5 starts in southern Syria, near the border with Jordan, and runs all the way north to the city of Aleppo near the Turkish border.” (Xinhua, 2. März 2020)