Tens of thousands flee Syrian province of Idlib amid fears of a new refugee crisis caused by Assad offensive as Turkey demands Russia broker a ceasefire
- Syrian government forces have launched a fresh assault on Idlib in recent days
- The bombardment has forced 30,000 people to flee Idlib in the last week alone
- Fearing a new refugee flow, Turkey has demanded that Russia agree a ceasefire
Turkey has demanded an end to a Russian and Syrian bombardment in the province of Idlib which has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes – sparking Turkish fears of a fresh refugee crisis.
Syrian government forces have launched a fresh assault on Idlib in recent days to capture the rebel-held province with Russia’s help.
At least eight people were killed in air strikes today, including civilians who were sheltering in a school.
With thousands of people now migrating towards Turkey, Ankara has called for the attacks on Idlib to stop ‘immediately’.
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that Ankara could not handle a new refugee flow and Ankara today sent a delegation to Moscow as it called on Russia to broker a ceasefire.
Escape: Syrian families from Idlib province drive towards the Turkish border today with their belongings piled on their cars amid heavy bombardment by government forces and Russia
Heightened regime and Russian bombardments on Idlib in the last eight days have forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, the UN says.
Speaking in Ankara following a cabinet meeting, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Turkey had asked Russia to establish a ceasefire in the region.
‘We are closely following the process for an end to the attacks, and these attacks should come to an end immediately and implemented under a new ceasefire,’ he said.
‘This is our main expectation from the Russian side.
‘We are now waiting for [Russia] to begin efforts in the coming 24 hours for an end to the regime attacks in Idlib.’
Idlib is dominated by the country’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Bashar al-Assad’s forces have vowed to take back the area and bombardment has continued despite a ceasefire agreed in August.
Since Thursday, regime forces have taken control of dozens of towns and villages in southern Idlib following battles with jihadists.
The offensive has killed scores of civilians and sparked so far an exodus of at least 80,000 people in all of Idlib province, including 30,000 in the past week alone, the United Nations said on Monday.
Bombardment: Heightened regime and Russian bombardments on Idlib in the last eight days have forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, the UN says
At least eight people, including five children, were killed today in Russian air strikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
‘Children are bearing the brunt of intensifying violence in northwest Syria,’ the United Nations children’s organisation UNICEF said Tuesday.
‘Nine years into the war, children in Syria continue to experience unspeakable violence, trauma and distress.’
Regime forces are now less than two miles from the strategic city of Maaret al-Numa, war monitors say.
The region also hosts some three million people including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.
Turkey and Russia struck a deal in October which made Vladimir Putin the major power-broker in Syria after Donald Trump pulled out US troops.
It followed a Turkish ground offensive aimed at forcing Kurdish fighters away from the Turkish border. Ankara regards the Kurdish militia as terrorists.
Syria’s war has killed over 370,000 people and displaced millions since beginning in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.