Idlib’s residents stuck between Syrian regime bombing and closed Turkish border

While the Syrian government and Russian warplanes continue their air strikes on Idlib province in northwestern Syria, human rights organizations operating in the region, continue to call for the provision of humanitarian corridors, amid an atmosphere of anticipation among the residents who are stuck between the regime forces on one hand and Turkey on the other.

Amid the continuous shelling, Idlib residents are under great dangers obstructing their fleeing the region, in addition to deteriorating living conditions with lack of drinking water, fuel and medical services.

Hazem Dakl, a journalist who closely monitors the situation in the city said: “The situation in Idlib is not very clear, and the people are afraid. There is a de facto authority represented by Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) formerly known as al-Nusra Front, Determines the decision of peace and war, in what others bet on Turkey to save them from the impending military operation."

According to Dakl the “Regime is preventing the residents from leaving the city, in order to send them to camps to support its stance in the war it is waging.”

This is in line with previous statements made by the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar al-Jaafari, who said on Friday during the Security Council meeting on Idlib, that his government plans to evacuate civilians from combat zones, as happened in the past in Aleppo or al-Ghouta, in reference to what the Syrian opposition described as “a forced displacement operations in more than one area.”

Idlib Syria 1 (Supplied)

Turkey closes border with Syria

The Syrian local journalist added that “Turkey has shut down it border while its checkpoints along the border line with Syria prevent any infiltrations of residents to its territories, and if the regime military operations are escalated, we will be facing a real catastrophe as there is one million civilians in those areas, mostly are displaced from other regions in Syria.”

Difficult living conditions

For his part, journalist Shadi al-Sayeed who is an Idlib resident living in a town bordering Turkey told Al Arabiya English that: “The living conditions in the city is extremely difficult” pointing out that “there is great fear among the residents of escalation in the bombardment, which already drove many of them to flee towards the Turkish border without being allowed in by the Turkish authorities to safety.”

He said Turkey only allowed the entrance of wounded civilians..

The military escalation comes in the heels of a trilateral summit held in the Iranian capital Tehran in which it called for stability in the region, but "in stages.” Full story