Bombs rain down on Syrian civilians as Assad tries to take last rebel stronghold

It was only after the dust from the air strike settled that Fareed al-mhlol realised his home had taken a direct hit. The walls of his house in the town of Ma’arat al-nu’man, in the north-western Syrian province of Idlib, had crumbled in, injuring his entire family and killing his aunt.

Rebel-held Idlib on Sunday faced its heaviest day of strikes since the latest government offensive began on April 30, according to the war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Bombs have been raining down on residential areas, on schools and on hospitals for weeks, as President Bashar al-assad’s forces attempt to retake the final opposition stronghold.

“I ran first towards my mother and my sisters. I took them out of the house where I thought they would be safer,” Mr Mhlol told The Daily Telegraph by phone yesterday.

“Then I ran in the direction of my aunt in order to reassure her. It was then I saw an unspeakable scene – the wall had fallen on her and she had been covered in rubble. She was dead.

“I don’t know what we are going to do now, where we are going to go,” Mr Mhlol said. “There’s nowhere safe left.”

The family had already been forced

to move from their last home after it was destroyed by strikes. His aunt and uncle had been living with them as theirs too had been levelled.

“Assad destroyed my house and destroyed all my memories,” he said. “Assad wants to kill me and kill my family because I am an activist and a journalist trying to get the truth out to the world of the massacres in Idlib.”

Ma’arat al-nu’man has been a regular target for the regime. The town has been the most vocal in its opposition not only to Assad but also to ruling Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-sham (HTS), countering Assad’s narrative that all those remaining in Idlib are terrorists and sympathisers.

Mr Mhlol’s seven-year-old sister Marwa, who was wounded in Sunday’s attack, has campaigned on social media for the attacks to stop. “You are sending your bombs on me, do I look like a terrorist?” she wrote on Twitter in March. “If I die, today or tomorrow, remember that my only weapon was my smile.”

Ma’arat al-nu’man is not a strategic town, but activists believe it is being targeted in order to terrify the civilian population into surrendering.

Idlib’s population has swollen to more than three million after fighters and civilians from other parts of Syria were sent there from rebel-held areas recaptured by the government.

HTS has become the dominant militia in the province. It has reportedly rejected offers to “reconcile” with the government and is now fighting to the death. It has been mounting a fierce defence for

‘Assad wants to kill me and my family because I am an activist trying to get the truth out about the massacres in Idlib’ A man rescues a young casualty from the rubble after an air strike, reportedly launched by Assad’s forces and his allies, in the jihadist-held town of Ma’arat al-nu’man, in Idlib province, Syria

Idlib and the government and its Russian backers have been struggling to make progress.

The Observatory, which tracks Syria’s civil war, reported yesterday that 815 people, including 226 civilians, have been killed since April 30.

According to the United Nations, more than 200,000 were forced to flee the shelling of towns in southern Idlib and northern Hama. Up to 80,000 of those who have fled are sleeping rough, and many others are crammed into overcrowded homes.

Human rights groups say that government strikes have hit at least 18 health facilities, including five identified through the UN. Some of the facilities were targeted twice. Those working on the ground say they are disappointed by the UN’S inaction.

“Last year, our medical staff on the ground agreed to share hospital co-ordinates as part of the UN deconfliction mechanism, said Dr Ahmad Tarakji, president of the Syrian American Medical Society. “The UN has a responsibility to protect these hospitals and present a tangible plan to deter such attacks. The people of Syria have the right to know who is attacking and destroying hospitals.”

A group of 44 Syrian and international NGOS signed a letter yesterday calling for an immediate halt to attacks on civilians and hospitals in Idlib. “With no concrete actions taken beyond political statements and promises, Syria and the world may soon be witnessing the worst humanitarian tragedy of the 21st century,” they warned.