BEIRUT: Civilianson Friday packed a road leading out of a flashpoint town in northwest Syria,where two weeks of heightened regime and Russian bombardment has displaced235,000 people. Pick-up trucks carryingmattresses, clothes and house-hold appliances ferried entire families out ofsouthern Idlib province, most heading towards safer areas further north, saidan AFP correspondent on the ground.
Sincemid-December, regime forces and their Russian allies have heightenedbombardment on the southern edge of the final major opposition-held pocket ofSyria, eight years into the country's devastating war. The latest violence inthe jihadist-dominated Idlib region has killed scores of civilians, despite anAugust ceasefire deal and international calls for a de-escalation.
More than 235,000people fled the area between December 12 and 25, mostly from the beleagueredcity of Maaret Al-Numan which has been left "almost empty", accordingto the United Nations' humanitarian coordination agency OCHA. OCHA spokesmanDavid Swanson said Friday that more than 80 per cent of those who have fledsouthern Idlib this month are women and children.
"I can'tlive in the camps," said Umm Abdo, a mother of five who recently arrivedin a displacement camp in the town of Dana, north of Idlib's provincialcapital. "The rain is very strong, and we need heating... clothes, andfood," she said, her tired eyes showing through her veil.
Fierce battles,squalid camps
The Idlib regionhosts some three million people, including many displaced by years of violencein other parts of Syria. It is dominated by the country's former Al-Qaedaaffiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, whose chief this week urged jihadists and alliedrebels to head to the frontlines and battle "the Russian occupiers"and the regime.
Since December19, HTS jihadists and their rebel allies have been locked in fierce battleswith regime forces around Maaret al-Numan. Damascus loyalists have seizeddozens of towns and villages from jihadists in clashes that have killedhundreds of fighters on both sides.
The advances havebrought them to within four kilometers (two and a half miles) of MaaretAl-Numan, one of Idlib's largest urban centers. According to OCHA, ongoing battles have further amplified displacementfrom the area and the nearby town of Saraqeb.
"People fromSaraqab and its eastern countryside are now fleeing in anticipation of fightingdirectly affecting their communities next," it said. The mass displacementcould not come at a worse time, with heavy rainfall flooding squalid camps forthe displaced. "Being forced to move in winter months exacerbates existingvulnerabilities, particularly of the women, children, elderly, people with disabilitiesand other vulnerable groups," OCHA said.
Aid suspended
Sincemid-December, the fighting has killed nearly 80 civilians, according to theSyrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor. US President Donald Trumpreacted to the violence in a tweet on Thursday, saying that "Russia,Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing, thousands of innocentcivilians in Idlib Province".
He added thatTurkey was "working hard to stop this carnage". The escalation hasforced aid groups to suspend operations in the area, exasperating already direhumanitarian conditions, OCHA said.
Idlib's residentsmainly depend on critical cross-border aid, which came under threat last weekafter Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would haveextended such deliveries for a year. Themove raised fears that vital UN-funded aid could stop entering Idlib fromJanuary unless an alternative agreement is reached.
The Syrian regimepulled out of its last outposts in Idlib province in 2015, following fiercebattles with rebels and Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists. The Damascus regime,which now controls 70 percent of Syria, has repeatedly vowed to take back theregion. Backed by Moscow, Damascuslaunched a blistering offensive against Idlib in April, killing around 1,000civilians and displacing more than 400,000 people.
Despite a ceasefire announced in August, the bombardment has continued, prompting Turkey this week to press for a fresh ceasefire deal during talks in Moscow. France on Tuesday called for an "immediate de-escalation", warning of deteriorating humanitarian conditions. The war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it began with anti-government demonstrations brutally crushed by security forces. -AFP