The Syrian Civil Defense warned of a major humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib province as a result of the intensifying onslaught by the Assad regime and its backers on residential areas. It pointed out that the Assad regime and Russia are seeking to depopulate the region of its residents in order to control it.
“It seems that the ceasefire agreement has collapsed,” Director of the Syrian Civil Defense Corps, Raed Al-Saleh, said in an interview with the Anadolu Agency on Monday after the Assad regime and Russia continued bombing of residential areas.
“The Assad regime and its Russian ally have a clear policy, which is to depopulate the region in order to control it. Every bombing campaign begins with targeting vital centers, hospitals, water and electricity stations, public markets and residential neighborhoods with the aim of emptying the region of its residents.”
Al-Saleh said that “if the regime continues to advance in this pace, we will not be talking about a possible scenario, but a major catastrophe amid dwindling international support and the lack of an international response.”
Al-Saleh added: “I cannot estimate the magnitude of the disaster, but we are talking about millions of people in a region that previously could accommodate some 200 to 300,000 people. This situation will pose a major threat to Turkey and Europe who will have to cope with fresh mass waves of refugees.”
The Director of Civil Defense stressed that “Russia is contributing to demographic change in several regions of Syria as it is supporting the regime and its militias,” noting that Russia is committing war crimes and encouraged the regime to issue Law No. 10 to confiscate the property of refugees. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
