Amid 'bloodbath' fears, US warns Assad against using chemical weapons

With the United Nations warning of a potential "bloodbath" in Syria's Idlib province, the United States has warned President Bashar al-Assad it would respond "swiftly and appropriately" if he uses chemical weapons against his own people.

As Syrian troops massed near the northwestern region of nearly three million people, the last major rebel stronghold, renewed Russian airstrikes killed at least nine civilians, according to a violence monitor.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said on Tuesday the UN Security Council would meet on Friday to discuss the precarious situation in the province.

Rebel-backer Turkey has held several rounds of talks with regime ally Russia aimed at averting an assault on Idlib, but Moscow dubbed the region a "pocket of terrorism". The UN's Syria peace envoy Staffan de Mistura said Russia and Turkey held "the key for (a) soft solution to the Idlib issue" and urged them to help avert a humanitarian disaster.

De Mistura pointed to press reports indicating that Syria has set a September 10 deadline for finding a solution before it begins an all-out offensive on the province. "Let's try to avoid that the last probably major battle of the Syrian territorial conflict... ends in a bloodbath," De Mistura told reporters in Geneva.

US President Donald Trump warned Assad on Monday not to "recklessly attack" Idlib and the White House strongly cautioned him on Tuesday against using chemical weapons.

"Such an attack would be a reckless escalation of an already tragic conflict and would risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, warning the US and its allies "will respond swiftly and appropriately."
"There are many more babies than terrorists in Idlib," said Jan Egeland, head of the UN's humanitarian taskforce for Syria. "We appeal for sanity."