Syria: 27,000 civilians flee Idlib in past 4 days

IDLIB, Syria

Nearly 27,000 civilians have left their homes in northwest Syria in the last four days because of attacks by Assad regime forces and their allies, according to a Syrian relief group.

The Syria's Response Coordination Group said about 27,000 civilians in residential areas of Aleppo and the de-escalation zone in Idlib are headed to areas near the Turkish border due to the attacks that violate a cease-fire agreement between Turkey and Russia.

Civilians flee to areas near the Turkish border or take shelter in areas cleared of terrorists by Turkey's anti-terror operations.

Since Jan. 2019, the number of Syrians displaced from Idlib and Aleppo has grown to nearly 1.8 million.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

But more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces in the zone as the cease-fire continues to be violated.

In a fresh move, Turkey announced Jan. 10 a new cease-fire in Idlib would start after midnight Jan. 12, however, the regime and Iran-backed terrorist groups continued attacks.

Since the eruption of the bloody civil war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has taken in 3.7 million Syrians fleeing that country to Turkey -- making it the world’s top refugee-hosting country.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar