Northern Syria, Idlib Province.
Idlib was the provincial capital of Idlib Province in northern Syria, connecting the Halab Plain and the Orontes River Valley. It was the last territory occupied by the Opposition Armed Forces.
Over the years, Syria's military had been unable to retake Idlib due to constraints imposed by the Western bloc.
The Opposition Armed Forces had also used the ceasefire agreement to hide there and recuperate, barely clinging on. With the Western bloc's support, the area had become the main stronghold for all manner of armed groups.
Years of war had driven the families of militants and refugees north into the area. Idlib's population had now surged to 2.8 million, with 80,000 militants entrenched there.
Concerned about the refugee issue, Turkey and Russia held differing views on the region. Combined with the Western bloc dragging things out, it had become a paradise for armed militants.
With the Mediterranean Sea behind it and the Turkish border nearby, the Western bloc believed it could easily supply the region with weapons and ammunition.
At a base in Idlib, two men sat in a small room. One was an elderly man wearing black-rimmed glasses, with a balding Mediterranean-style head and graying hair. The other was a blond, hook-nosed Caucasian man who looked barely over thirty.
The old man was Abdu Hiseit, a renowned Syrian scholar and political figure, chairman of the Syria Committee, and one of the leaders of the Opposition Armed Forces after the war broke out.
The Caucasian man in his thirties was named Sim, a "military adviser" sent by the United States.
Hiseit looked at Sim with respect in his eyes and did not dare act rashly. Nominally, Sim was his adviser, but he knew that Sim represented the Western bloc behind him.
Over the past two months,