Intensified bombardment and shelling by the Russian and Assad regime forces has triggered a mass exodus of civilians from the towns and villages of western rural Aleppo following months of relative calm in the region, home to thousands of displaced people from Hama and Idlib provinces.
Local activists said that the Friday congregational prayers were cancelled in the majority of the towns and villages of western and southern rural Aleppo for fear of the violent aerial bombardment and artillery shelling. Aleppo Media Center published a video showing the moment a violent airstrike hit the town of Kafarnaha.
The bombing campaign has completely depopulated the towns of Khan al-Asal, Anjara, Al-Mansoura, and Al-Rashideen as well as the majority of the residents of Bashqatin and Kafardael.
Preliminary figures indicated that more than 15,000 people fled western rural Aleppo in the past 24 hours to escape the indiscriminate, intense airstrikes by the Assad regime and Russian forces. The majority of those fleeing has sought refuge in IDP camps near the Turkish border. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
