U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday warned Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad not to 鈥渞ecklessly attack鈥� Idlib province amid reports of a potential military offensive by regime forces.
鈥淧resident Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy,鈥� Trump posted on Twitter.
鈥淗undreds of thousands of people could be killed. Don鈥檛 let that happen!鈥� he added.
Located near the Turkish border, Idlib is home to more than 3 million Syrians, many of whom fled from other cities that were attacked by the Assad regime鈥檚 forces.
In May, Idlib was designated a 鈥渄e-escalation zone鈥� -- in which acts of aggression are expressly forbidden -- as part of ongoing peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
Earlier Monday, Germany and France expressed concern about a possible major offensive in the region.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who arrived in Damascus Monday for talks ahead of a planned trilateral summit on war-torn Syria, said the Al-Nusra and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist groups 鈥渕ust be cleaned out of Idlib鈥�.
By Muhammed Bilal Kenasari in Washington
Anadolu Agency
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