Dienstag, 28.01.2020 / 23:10 Uhr

'Insane Exodus'

Von
Aus dem Netz

3

(Bild: Syrian Freedom House)

 

EA-Worldview über was sich gerade in Nordsyrien abspielt, während nach Monaten Dauerbombardements es syrischen Truppen wohl final gelungen ist, mit russischer und iranischer Hilfe die völlig zerstörte und entvölkerte Stadt Ma’arat al-Nu’man zu erobern.

Tens of thousands of civilians are fleeing in the latest mass displacement in northwest Syria, trying to escape Russian-regime attacks and an advance near the “ghost city” of Ma’arat al-Nu’man.

Roads were jammed as people risked heavy airstrikes to move deeper into Idlib Province.

The Russian-regime offensive closed on Ma’arat al-Nu’man, 32 km (21 miles) south of Idlib city, last month. More than 350,000 civilians, including almost all the population of the city, fled the area. The departure brought the total to more than 750,000 — with more than 1,500 killed and thousands wounded — since the Russian-regime assault on the greater Idlib area began in late April.

The advance has been renewed in the past week, with the occupation of a series of towns and villages. Pro-Assad forces have cut the M5 highway north of Ma’arat al-Nu’man and are now at the northeastern and eastern edges of the emptied city.

Fouad Sayed Issa, an aid worker with the Violet Organisation, said, “Over the past few days we have seen thousands of new internally-displaced persons. We are talking here at the very least about 50,000 over the past four days.”

Another activist, planning evacuations, simply said to EA: “Insane exodus.”