Fires burn in Lataminah in northern Hama Province after pro-Assad bombardment, April 30, 2019

UPDATE 1245 GMT:

Local activists report more Russian and regime attacks on Idlib and northern Hama Province this morning, with “dozens” of airstrikes: “Warplanes and helicopters don’t leave sky since dawn.”

They also confirm the use of barrel bombs in the assault:

ORIGINAL ENTRY:

Concerns are rising over a pro-Assad offensive to overrun the opposition area of northwest Syria, following the latest escalation in bombardment.

The Assad regime stepped up shelling of Idlib and northern Hama Provinces from mid-February, despite a Russian-Turkish demilitarized zone announced last September. The assaults have killed at least 150 people and displaced tens of thousands, in an area with more than 3 million people — about 20% of Syria’s remaining population after eight years of conflict.

There has been another spike in shelling since Sunday, with Russian warplanes reportedly carried out airstrikes. The Islamist bloc Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has responded with raids on regime checkpoints, claiming retaliation for the pro-Assad targeting of civilian sites.

In the latest Russian and regime attacks, medical facilities have been hit — a prelude to previous offensives on areas such as east Aleppo city and the East Ghouta region near Damascus. The damaged sites included the only obstetrics hospital in northern Hama.

The White Helmets civil defense said at least two people were killed in Kafr Naboudeh in northern Hama.

Local sources said barrel bombs were used for the first time in months. The improvised explosive cylinders, usually dropped from regime helicopters, have killed thousands of civilians in the conflict.

Imminent Offensive?

Last September’s announcement of a demilitarized zone suspended a Russian-regime offensive. Moscow has periodically spoken of the need to “erase terrorists”, but — with Turkish forces alongside rebels and Ankara’s ring of observation posts in Idlib and northern Hama — has refrained from more than occasional airstrikes.

At a press conference on Monday, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proclaimed that the Assad regime has “every right” to protect people in Syria.

He falsely claimed that the Islamic State as well as HTS have staged “provocations”: “This is what is going on in the Idlib de-escalation zone.”

ISIS was pushed out of the northwest by Turkish-rebel operations in 2016 and has no fighters in the zone. But rebels have said that Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in western Syria will be targeted by rockets if attacks on civilians continue.

Lavrov said that Moscow still wants to “ensure the implementation of Russian-Turkish agreements” but:

Russia cannot tolerate these terrorists remaining safe there like in a preserved area.

There’s a limit to everything. The situation in Idlib and other areas where terrorists are still active cannot go on like this forever. We will proceed from the fact that the Syrian government has every right to ensure the safety of its people on its territory.

Pro-Assad Activists Cheer

Pro-Assad sites and bloggers have stepped up propaganda hailing a military assault.

Al-Masdar headlines, “Russian, Syrian Air Forces Launch Largest Attack of the Year as Idlib Offensive Nears”.

The site, citing a “source from the military”, said the strikes “targeted dozens of towns and villages”. It continued:

On Monday evening, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) began amassing their troops in northern Hama and southern Idlib for what appears to be a limited offensive that will target the demilitarized zone.

A source in Damascus told Al-Masdar that the military has received the green light to launch the offensive; however, he pointed out that due to pressure from Turkey, the operation will only target areas within the demilitarized zone [the 15 to 20-km wide perimeter around Idlib and northern Hama] at this time.

Al-Masdar was careful not to report any attacks on civilian areas and medical facilities.

Vanessa Beeley, a British blogger working with the regime in Syria, went farther with her welcome of an all-out assault on the entire opposition area. She said, without irony, that she was “praying for all innocent Syrian civilians who will be caught up in the battles”.

Beeley then repeated her disinformation that White Helmets rescuers, who will try to save lives and retrieve bodies in any Russian-regime offensive, are “stealing children” to stage “chemical attacks”.

Russia and pro-Assad activists recurrently — and always before major offensives — have put out the lies that the White Helmets are staging “false flag” chemical events, in an attempt to pin blame on the Assad regime. The disinformation has been renewed in the past week, including by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

Syria Daily, April 24: Assad Regime and Russia Renew Chemical Attacks Disinformation