DAMASCUS, Sept. 26-- Russian, Turkish and Syrian forces sent reinforcement to areas in northern Syria at a time when the al-Qaida-linked groups are yet to withdraw from a key road linking the country's south with its northern part, a war monitor reported on Thursday. The Russian forces brought military and logistical reinforcement to its positions in the northern countryside of Aleppo province while the Syrian government forces and allied fighters continued to send military backups to the western countryside of Aleppo as well as the eastern and southeastern countryside of Idlib province in northwestern Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army units are deploying the backup forces to frontline areas in the Idlib and Aleppo in tandem with a similar move by the Russian forces in the northern countryside of Aleppo. Russian logistics include mobile clinics and ammunition, said the Observatory. Meanwhile, the UK-based watchdog group said the Turkish forces brought in new forces and military gears, which were deployed near the town of Maarat al-Numan south of Idlib. This military moves by Russia, which supports the Syrian army and Turkey that backs the rebels, come at a time when the al-Qaida-linked groups are still present on the main road linking the capital Damascus in the south with the Aleppo in the north. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the umbrella group of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, controls a stretch of the road between Latakia province and Aleppo. |