(Zaman Al Wasl)- The city of Maaret al-Numan has turned into a relative ghost town as Russia-backed forces wage a crushing assault on northern Idlib province that uprooted about 280,000 people from their homes and killed more than 100 people in three weeks.
Abadat al-Thikra, director of Civil Defense rescuing agency in Maarat al-Numan, said a large number of civilians has left the city, populated with 85,000 people between displaced and resident, without taking any of their furniture. Many families cannot take anything because of the continuous shelling of all the neighborhoods of the city.”
He added that, “There are no field hospitals, no bakeries, no water and no electricity, in addition to the disruption of all the main roads inside and leading to the city. Most of the bombing is focused on markets and the main roads. The civil defense team is working to remove the rubble and repair the roads, but the heavy rains have lead to the collapse of the repaired potholes. Russia and the regime are deliberately targeting schools, mosques and all essential buildings in the city.”
The Syrian Response Coordination Group more than 51,260 families have been displaced since the regime began its crushing assault on the southern and eastern countryside of Idlib.
Bilal Makhzoum, local activist who is still in the city, talked about their contribution to the evacuation of civilians, “For ten days, the city was subjected to severe and systematic bombardment, with the goal of emptying the city of its residents, leading to a large wave of displacement towards border areas and camps.”
“In light of a marked lack of support by humanitarian organizations, all civil activists and organizations, in the city and outside it, had to help secure transport to evacuate the people to border areas, which is our duty, especially in these difficult times. Our priority was to evacuate civilians as well as our families for their safety, then, we started to move the furniture to their owners, since most left without any of their necessary household items.”
Before the displacement, Maarat al-Numan had a population of 70,000 people, in addition to its eastern and southern countryside with more than 283,000 civilians displaced to border camps, following the scorched earth policy that the regime and Russia is applying by destroying all infrastructure as well as targeting residential neighborhoods and civilian property.
Idlib 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 Syria, has repeatedly vowed to take back the area.
Eight years of war in Syria have killed 560,000 people and driven half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes, including more than 6 million as refugees to neighbouring countries.
Zaman Al Wasl
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