The ongoing brutal bombardment by the Assad regime and Russian forces on the Idlib and Hama countryside has caused tens of thousands of civilians to flee to IDP camps near the Turkish border.
Local activists said that more people are fleeing northern rural Hama, especially the towns of Kafarzeita, al-Latamina, and Kifranbouda.
The Emergency Response Coordinators Team said that the bombing campaign hit more than 73 targets in rural Hama and Idlib, including vital civilian centers and infrastructure such as hospitals, medical centers, schools, and IDP camps.
The United Nations said it was deeply concerned over the recent escalation of bombardment in the region. The Russian and Assad regime forces have recently stepped up bombardment of civilian areas in yet the most violent onslaught on the liberated areas since the establishment of a demilitarized zone in the region.
“Shelling of areas in northwestern Syria in the past three days has damaged a medical center and put two hospitals out of service, the United Nations said on Tuesday,” aid David Swanson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA.
‘The U.N. is deeply disturbed by three separate reported attacks on hospitals and health facilities in northwestern Syria, depriving thousands of people of their basic right of health,’ said David Swanson of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs…”
Aid groups said that an estimated 300,000 people have so far fled their homes in the demilitarized zone, mostly seeking refuge in IDP camps and villages in northern Idlib province and Afrin in rural Aleppo near the Turkish border.
The Syrian Coalition urged major players in the international community to take swift action to save civilians, especially women and children in the countryside Idlib and Hama; put an end to the bombing campaign and the mass displacement; and prevent further civilian casualties.
The Assad regime and Russian forces have recently resumed the violent ground and aerial bombardment of the rebel-held areas in the provinces of Idlib and Hama although the area is covered by the Russian-Turkish agreement calling for a halt to bombardment in the area. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
