BALADI NEWS
More than 235,000 people have fled from the Idlib region over the past two weeks, the UN has said, as attacks intensify on Syria’s final opposition stronghold.
The mass displacement between 12 and 25 December has left the Maarat al-Numan area in southern Idlib “almost empty”, the UN said in a statement on Friday.
Since mid-December, Russian-backed regime forces have pressed on with an assault against jihadists in southern Idlib, despite an August ceasefire deal and calls for de-escalation from Turkey, France and the UN.
Airstrikes have increased as Russian-backed regime forces have advanced on the ground.
The bombardment and fighting on the ground have amplified displacement from Maarat al-Numan and the nearby town of Saraqeb in southern Idlib, the UN said.
“People from Saraqeb and its eastern countryside are now fleeing in anticipation of fighting directly affecting their communities next,” it said.
About 3 million people live in the region, including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.
Source: The Telegraph.