Tens of thousands of civilians flee Idlib as Assad's assault continues

Around 36,000 more civilians have fled homes falling inside the Idlib de-escalation zone in Syria over the last two days. This takes the number of civilians displaced by the Bashar al Assad regime's assault on Idlib to 450,000, since November 2019.

According to Syria's Response Coordination Group, the displaced civilians were headed to areas near the Turkish border.

Mohammad Hallaj, the director of the group, said Syrians fled Darat Izzah, Atarib, Haiian, Hraytan, Anadan, Khan Tuman, Khan al Asal, Kafr Naya and al Qasimia in response to the regime's attacks, supported by Russian air strikes.

At least 36,007 civilians, consisting of 11,691 families, have become homeless over the last two days.

Approximately 450,000 civilians have been displaced from the settlements of Idlib’s southern, southeastern, and Aleppo’s western and southern rural areas since November 2019.

Camps in Idlib can no longer accommodate the rising influx of internally displaced persons (IDP). Thousands of families are currently in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Russian strikes kill 8 civilians in Syria’s Idlib – monitor

Russian air strikes in Syria's northwestern region of Idlib on Thursday killed eight civilians, including five children, a war monitor said.

Five civilians from the same family were killed in Saraqeb and three others in the town of Arnaba, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"The region is witnessing very intense bombardment by Russian warplanes," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based monitoring group.

EU condemns northwest Syria offensive

The EU on Thursday condemned renewed fighting in northwest Syria, demanding an end to "unacceptable" air strikes that continue to kill civilians.

The Assad regime, backed by Russia, is tightening the noose around Idlib, the last major opposition and rebel-held stronghold in Syria's war, with air strikes killing at least 23 civilians on Tuesday.

"The renewal of the offensive in Idlib, including repeated air strikes, and the shelling targeting civilians are unacceptable and must cease," an EU spokesman said in a statement.

"The EU will keep the sanctions against the Assad regime under review as long as these brutal attacks continue."

Turkey-Russia's Idlib deal

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

But more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces since, as ceasefire violations continue.

Turkey announced on January 10 that a new ceasefire in Idlib  –– though “acts of aggression” were already officially banned – was set to start just after midnight on January 12.

Separately, a day earlier, Russia’s defence ministry announced a ceasefire in the region taking effect at 1200 GMT.

However, the regime and Iran-backed groups continued their ground attacks.

More than one million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks over the last year.

Since the eruption of war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has taken in some 3.7 million Syrians who fled their country, making it the world’s top refugee-hosting country.