Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited government troops on the front line in Idlib Tuesday, his first visit to the northwestern province since the start of the conflict.
“President Assad meets members of the Syrian army on the front line in the town of Hbeit in the Idlib countryside,” the president’s office said on its social media networks.
The Idlib region of some three million people has been protected by a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal since August 31, but skirmishes persist on the ground.
“We said it before and we are still saying that the battle of Idlib is the basis that will end the chaos and terrorism in all areas of Syria,” Assad was quoted as saying by the official Syrian news agency Telegram.
“Erdogan is a thief who stole factories, wheat and oil, and today he is stealing the land,” Assad added.
