US threatens new airstrikes on Syria

"The US has information that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may have ordered the use of chemical weapons in the campaign to retake Idlib province. US National Security Adviser John Bolton warned that Washington would use tougher military action than past airstrikes,"Bloombergciting anonymous sources at the White House today.

Bolton made the message during a meeting with Russian National Security Council Director Nikolai Patrushev in Geneva, Switzerland on August 23.

The two sides discussed the possibility of the US withdrawing troops from bases on the Syrian and Iraqi borders, as well as cooperation with Russian forces deployed in the region. However, Washington and Moscow did not reach any agreement during the meeting.

Idlib province, located on the border with Türkiye, has been occupied by Syrian rebel groups since 2015. Currently, 60% of the province is still controlled by the al-Qaeda-linked HTS group, while the rest is controlled by rebel forces. The Syrian government army is assembling elite forces and many squadrons of armed helicopters, forming a siege of Idlib from three sides, ready for a large-scale attack on the province.

Washington and its allies have twice carried out airstrikes on Syrian territory in response to accusations that Damascus deployed chemical weapons against civilians. The first attack took place on April 7, 2017, when the US Navy launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Shayrat Airfield. On April 14, 2018, the US, UK and France continued their large-scale airstrikes with 105 cruise missiles targeting facilities suspected of being the Syrian government’s chemical weapons research and storage facilities.

Both Syria and Russia have denied the accusations, saying it was an act staged by rebel forces.