U.N. Senior Humanitarian Advisor for Syria Najat Rochdi said the United Nations has been receiving troubling reports during the past few weeks of increased military activity and attacks in Idlib.
Following her first meeting with her humanitarian team since she took office on Thursday, Rochdi said that 106,000 people have fled their homes since February and at least 190 people have been killed as a direct result of increased fighting.
Rochdi appealed to Russia and Turkey as guarantors of a de-escalation agreement in Syria’s Idlib province to prevent a further intensification of fighting in the province.
In early April, Amnesty International issued a detailed report confirming previous reports about attacks by the Assad regime forces with Russian backing targeting residential areas and vital facilities in Idlib province.
Amnesty warned that “the ongoing attacks in Idlib fit the same pattern we’ve seen before, in Aleppo, Dara’a, Damascus Countryside, whereby Syrian government forces hit hospitals, medical facilities, emergency responders, bakeries, schools, leaving people no choice but to flee.”
The Syrian Coalition earlier warned that any military action by the Assad regime and Russia would be aimed at impeding the political solution. It said that the Assad regime and its allies are avidly seeking to undermine any action that would help restore security and stability to the region.
The Coalition condemned the Assad regime’s continued breaches of the Idlib agreement, calling on the international community to preserve the agreement and consolidate the ceasefire currently in place. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
