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Syria: Almost 200,000 displaced in 2 weeks

May 18, 2019 at 1:17 pm

Syrians, with their belongings are seen on their way onto the vans, to Kafr Lusin district, which is located near Turkey’s Reyhanli district, in Idlib, Syria on 9 May, 2019 [Muhammed Abdullah/Anadolu Agency]

Renewed violence in Syria has displaced about 180,000 people in the past two weeks, according to more than 70 relief NGOs.

The NGOs added that the situation in northwestern Syria has reached crisis level due to the movement of Syrian regime forces, as Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad looks to regain control of the last opposition stronghold, Arab 48 reported yesterday.

The renewed violence ended a ceasefire deal mediated by Turkey, which supported the opposition, and Russia, which supported the Syrian regime. The ceasefire was reached in September last year.

The NGOs called for all parties to end the ongoing violence, which has led to the displacement of about 180,000 residents in the past two weeks alone.

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About three million people live in the area between Hama and Idlib, which is controlled by the opposition. The hostilities have pushed at least 16 relief NGOs to suspend their activities in the area, some of which stopped working after their facilities were attacked.

NGO Physicians for Human Rights said that, during the past four weeks, it had documented nine attacks on hospitals and medical facilities by the Syrian regime and its Russian allies. The NGO also said that it had documented attacks on 15 medical facilities and 16 schools, which were left severely or completely damaged.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International called for the UN Security Council to convene to put pressure on Russia to stop its targeting of educational and medical facilities, as well as to end its attacks on civilians.

READ: Idlib may see century’s worst humanitarian tragedy