Aleppo – North-Press Agency
Sam al-Ahmad
Residents of the two twin towns of Nubl and Zahraa in northern Aleppo remain fearful of attacks that may be launched by Turkish forces or their affiliated armed groups, despite the latest control of Syrian government forces and their loyal groups over vital areas in northern Aleppo.
Residents and members of Syrian government forces believe that the two towns are still within the danger circle, despite the recession of shelling and attacks by the armed opposition groups on the two towns.
Ali Abbas Sherbo, a resident of the town of Nubl, told North-Press that they still fear new attacks or reprisals that might be carried out by the Turkish military or the affiliated armed groups, which could lead to casualties. “Our concerns arise not from bombings, but by retaliation attacks that could be launched from the Turkish observation posts,” he said.
The fears come after the killing of Turkish soldiers in Idlib countryside during the military operation of the Syrian government forces in late February, and the response of the Turkish military by bombing several positions of Syrian government forces.
Sherbo and other residents believe that the behavior of revenge and retaliation is not far from the Turkish army’s policy and the affiliated armed groups, whose strikes may reach the two towns of Nubl and Zahraa.
The Syrian government forces with their allied forces and the Iranian-backed forces had advanced in the vicinity of Nubl and Zahraa towns and took control over large areas in north and northwest countryside of Aleppo after violent clashes against the armed opposition groups in last February.
While Turkish observation posts are still stationed on the western side of the two towns, in addition to the presence of Turkish-backed armed opposition groups in the northwestern side of the two towns.
Haj Anwar, a commander in the Syrian-allied forces told North-Press: "Both Nubl and Zahraa have been under existential danger for years by attacks of the Turkish-affiliated armed opposition groups.”
He added that the seriousness of the Turkish posts appeared in the recent clashes, when these posts supported opposition attacks, "We will not be secured as long as the Turkish observation posts are close to us,” he said.
On the 4th of March, the armed opposition groups launched an attack on the western axis of Nubl and Zahraa, where violent clashes took place between these groups and the Syrian government forces, where three members of Syrian-allied forces were killed.
On February 17, Nubl and Zahraa were subjected to heavy artillery shelling by the armed opposition groups, coinciding with the Turkish bombardment on the villages of al-Ziyara and Aqiba in Sherawa district, south of Afrin.
In a statement to North-Press, Taher al-Khatib, a commander in the Syrian-allied forces warned that the presence of the Turkish-backed armed groups in Darat Izza, Afrin, and in Azaz, means the possibility of the outbreak of fierce and harsh battles at any moment.
The two towns of Nubl and Zahraa have been living in a remarkable calmness since mid-February, as the ceasefire agreement was signed in Moscow between Russian President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan on 5th of March, made the situation calmer.
Director of al-Mesbah Cultural Association in Nubl and Zahraa, Abdul-Mawla Deeb, said that the resilience of the residents of Nubl and Zahraa was achieved "by outward Iranian religious support, while its inward support may be an Iranian goal for a hegemonic influence.”
Deeb told North-Press that the “extremist and sectarian rhetoric of the armed opposition groups has led the residents of the two towns to rejecting them.”
The control of the Syrian government and the allied forces over the strategic areas of northern Aleppo, the towns of Bayanoun, Hayan, Anadan, Hraytan, Qubtan al-Jabal, Kafr Basin and Sheikh Aqil, have greatly expanded the range control and prevailed security in the vicinity of the two towns to a great extent, which are regarded by opposition groups as two Iranian-supported strongholds.