More than 70,000 people displaced from Syria’s Idlib in August – official

More than 70,000 people displaced from Syria’s Idlib in August – official

 

 

 

More than 70,000 people have been displaced from the southern countryside of Syria’s Idlib during August due to a surge in violence, Idlib’s Health Directorate said on Wednesday.

In the past few days, violence has increased in Idlib’s countryside and Hama’s rural northern area as Syrian government forces managed late Monday to enter Khan Sheikhoun, the largest rebel-held town in the southern countryside of Idlib.

“Some 71,794 people have been displaced since the beginning of August until Aug. 18,’’ the directorate said.

Activists say the humanitarian situation in the region is tragic with people sleeping in vehicles or spending the night in open fields.

A UN official said they received disturbing reports of increased displacement in the region.

“The situation on the ground remains fluid,’’ David Swanson, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said.

Khan Sheikhoun is located on the international M5 Aleppo-Damascus highway, which also passes through Homs.

The town has been a key battleground in Syria’s conflict, now in its ninth year.

On April 30, the Syrian government began a military offensive against the rebels in Idlib, home to three million people.

The violence has shattered a truce deal reached in September between Russia and Turkey to establish a demilitarised buffer zone in the Idlib enclave.

 

 

 

Source: NANS

Photo Credit: Google