February 2020. A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in north-western Syria, where the government of President Bashar al-Assad is trying to recapture the opposition-held province of Idlib. Government air strikes and ground operations have driven almost a million civilians from their homes since December – the biggest single displacement of Syria’s nine-year war. The UN has said a full-scale battle for Idlib could result in a “bloodbath”. The province – along with parts of Hama, Latakia and Aleppo – is the last stronghold of the rebel and jihadist groups that have been trying to overthrow President Assad since 2011. The opposition once controlled large parts of the country, but the Syrian army has retaken most of the territory over the past five years with the help of Russian air power and Iran-backed militiamen. Now, the army wants to “liberate” Idlib. In recent years an influx of desperate displaced people has doubled its population to about three million, including one million children. Idlib is also strategically important to the government. It borders Turkey to the north and straddles highways running south from the city of Aleppo to the capital Damascus, and west to the Mediterranean city of Latakia.
Feb 2020. The Battering of Idlib
