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TEHRAN, August 17- France has joined a pressure campaign on Syria to prevent the liberation of northwestern Idlib Province, the last terrorist stronghold in the Arab country, as the army edges closer to final victory over the Takfiri terrorist groups.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - On Friday, the French Foreign Ministry called for an immediate end to the anti-terror fight in Idlib.
The request followed fresh Israeli airstrikes on Syria, which are usually viewed as attempts to prop up terrorists suffering defeats at the hands of Syrian government forces.
Also recently, an official in the so-called National Syrian Army announced that the Turkey-backed terrorist group would send reinforcements to the frontlines of the town Khan Shaykhun in Idlib Province.
Idlib remains the only large area in the hands of anti-Damascus terrorists after the Syrian army -- backed by Iran and Russia -- managed to undo militant gains across the country and wrest back control of almost all of Syrian soil.
In January, the UN estimated that there were 20,000 terrorists in Idlib associated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is a coalition of different factions of terror outfits largely composed of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.
Over the past week, Syrian forces have managed to advance on Idlib's southern edges with the aim of retaking Khan Shaykhun, which lies on a key highway connecting the capital Damascus with the city of Aleppo.
Latest reports said terrorists have now resorted to their old tactics of beheading Syrian soldiers.
In the last few days alone, the Takfiri elements released at least five videos of beheading Syrian troops in Idlib's southern countryside.
On Friday, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, stressed that Syria has withstood "a universal war" and is now "moving steadily towards the final victory."
Earlier this month, American and Turkish officials agreed to quickly set up a Turkey-based operations center “to coordinate and manage the implementation of the safe zone” in northeastern Syria.
The area is currently under the control of the US-backed Kurdish militants, who are considered terrorists by Ankara.
Speaking on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reiterated Moscow's support for Syria’s sovereignty.
"Attempts to isolate Syria’s northeast are a source of growing concern,” she said. “Russia’s approach to this issue has remained unchanged. As before, we support efforts to reach long-term stability and security in the northeast by restoring Syria’s sovereignty and a productive dialogue between Damascus and the Kurds."
Syria had already rejected the US-Turkey agreement as “blatant aggression” against the country’s territorial integrity and a “flagrant violation” of the international law and the UN Charter.
Source: Press TV
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