Hundreds flee as Syria and Russia attack rebel stronghold Idlib
■ Many civilians reportedly dead in two days of airstrikes
Hundreds of Syrian civilians fled Idlib province on Thursday as the Presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey readied for last- ditch talks on the fate of the last rebel bastion.
Government forces and their allies have been massing around Idlib, where aid groups fear what could be the last major battle of Syria's seven- year civil war may also prove the deadliest.
Western powers have warned against a bloodbath but Damascus and Moscow seem adamant that an offensive is needed to root out the jihadists who dominate the province. Sporadic bombardment has targeted armed groups on Idlib's fringes in recent days, with fresh Syrian artillery and Russian air bombardment of the southeast of the province on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The attacks prompted terrified residents to flee before a fully- fledged assault gets under way, the monitor said. “Around 180 families, or some 1,000 people” have fled their homes since Wednesday night towards rebel territory further east, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
He said that the displaced were mostly villagers from areas near government- held territory and most vulnerable to the early phase of an assault.
Artillery fire also killed one civilian and wounded six more, Abdel Rahman said. In the city of Idlib, resident Mohamed al- Zir said the most terrifying threat was that of air strikes by the regime or its Russian allies. “These are criminal air forces that commit massacres against civilians,” he told AFP. “The strikes are barbaric, they have no target, they are launched randomly.”
The number displaced so far is tiny compared to the 800,000 that the UN fears may be thrown onto the roads, more than a quarter of the rebel zone's population.