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Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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Winter exacerbates the situation for the Syrian refugees.
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imago images / Xinhua
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2.7
Syrian President Assad (right) has his sights on the rebel stronghold Idlib.
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AFP
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3.7
850,000 people have been displaced there since December.
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AFP
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7.7
Rescue workers reported that two hospitals had been hit during air strikes on Darat Issa near Aleppo and are now out of service.
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A hospital in Afrin. A father ran for miles from a refugee camp with his little daughter in his arms. Through snow and wind. But when he arrived, it was already too late: the one-year-old was dead – frozen to death. This tragic story tells Syrian doctor Housnam Adnan on Facebook,
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The death of the small child represents a new stage of escalation in the war in Syria: Idlib, the rebel stronghold that was originally intended as a “de-escalation zone”, is about to explode like a powder keg.
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Barrel bombs and hospital shelling
After the Syrian army failed with its offensive in the past year, it is now cracking down on the rebel stronghold despite the ceasefire. The army has already brought dozens of villages under control west of the city of Aleppo.
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With the support of Russia, barrel bombs fall and hospitals are bombed. Rescue workers reported that two hospitals had been hit during air strikes on Darat Issa near Aleppo and are now out of service.
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Escape route to Turkey is cut off
Damascus and Moscow argue that they are fighting terrorists in the region. The area is dominated by the Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia group close to Al Qaeda. More moderate government opponents are also fighting there.
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The government troops and allied militias apparently want to divide the region around Idlib into two areas. If they succeeded, they would cut off the civilians’ escape route north, where Turkish troops and allied rebels control a region on the border.
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850,000 people are on the run
There is no mercy in the fight for Syria’s last rebel stronghold Idlib. Three million people live in the region. According to the UN, more than 850,000 people have fled violence and the advancing government forces since the beginning of December alone.
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Aid workers complain of a catastrophic humanitarian situation. There is a lack of accommodation, food, heating materials and medical care. Despite winter temperatures, many people sleep in makeshift plastic tarpaulin tents.
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Hospitals had been bombed repeatedly in the past. Opponents of the government accuse Syria and Russia of targeting vital infrastructure to force people to give up. (SDA / kin)
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