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More than 235,000 people have fled the Idlib region over the past two weeks, the UN said Friday, amid heightened regime and Russian attacks on Syria's last major opposition bastion.
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The mass displacement between 12 and 25 December has left the violence-plagued Maaret al-Numan region in southern Idlib "almost empty," the UN said in a statement.
Since mid-December, Russian-backed regime forces have pressed with an assault on jihadists in southern Idlib, despite an August ceasefire deal and calls for a de-escalation from Turkey, France and the United Nations.
The increased air strikes came as Russian-backed regime forces advanced on the ground.
They have since December 19 seized dozens of towns and villages from the jihadist amid clashes that have killed hundreds on both sides.
The bombardment and clashes have amplified displacement from Maaret al-Numan and the nearby town Saraqeb in the southern Idlib region, the UN said.
"People from Saraqab and its eastern countryside are now fleeing in anticipation of fighting directly affecting their communities next," a statement said.
Idlib is dominated by the country's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, whose chief this week urged jihadists and allied rebels to head to the frontlines and battle "the Russian occupiers" and the regime.
The region hosts some three million people, including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.
The Damascus regime, which now controls 70 percent of Read More – Source
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