Over 2000 families flee Syria’s Idlib in 24 hours as rebels repel regime advances

The Syrian Response Coordinators Group said that 2,147 families, consisting of 11,812 individuals had been displaced from their homes in the rebel-held province, which is officially a military “de-escalation zone”, as a result of continued Russian and Assad regime airstrikes.

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The Syrian Civil Defence said that they had documented 36 airstrikes on Idlib province on Friday, as well as dozens of rocket and artillery strikes. Earlier this week, regime and Russian attacks in Kafranbel and Kansafra put the last three remaining hospitals in southern Idlib province out of service.

Bombing of Idlib province by Russia and the regime resumed at the beginning of November following a two-month lull. The response coordinator’s team estimate that 61,300 have fled their homes as a result and at least 90 have been killed.

Between April and September this year at least 500,000 people were displaced and over 1,300 killed in a previous Russian and regime bombing campaign. Approximately three million people live in Idlib province, the last rebel-held area in Syria. About half of them have fled there from previous fighting in other parts of Syria.

Meanwhile, approximately 962,000 people live in overcrowded refugee camps now, mostly in the north of Idlib province near the Turkish border. Some displaced people have had to take shelter in woods and open spaces because there is no room for them in the camps.

On Saturday morning, the National Liberation Front rebel group announced that its fighters had repelled an attempted regime advance on the south of Idlib province, killing and wounding a number of regime soldiers in an ambush. One regime soldier was reportedly captured by the rebel fighters.

Another four regime soldiers were killed in clashes with rebels in northern Latakia province.