In Idlib, Syria, a U.N. official expressed deep concern on Thursday regarding the recent upsurge in violence in the northwest region, which is controlled by opposition forces. This spike in aggression includes airstrikes near shelters for displaced families, as well as attacks on essential infrastructure like a power station and water services.
David Carden, the U.N. deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, highlighted in a statement that at least 12 civilians, including children, have lost their lives since Monday. He noted that this escalation has significantly disrupted crucial humanitarian activities, including the operations of 10 different healthcare facilities.
The ongoing conflict in Syria, which escalated from a popular uprising in 2011 into a full-blown civil war, has largely reached a standstill. The nation is divided among areas under the control of President Bashar Assad’s government, various opposition factions, and Syrian Kurdish groups.
The northwest, which remains under opposition control, has consistently been a source of conflict. In the last few weeks, reports from rescue teams and war monitoring organizations indicated an increase in bombardments by Russian forces that support Assad’s regime.
Specifically, on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in the UK, reported that Russian aircraft executed 28 airstrikes in the regions surrounding Idlib and Latakia, targeting both civilian and military locations.
Some of the airstrikes focused on positions held by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which governs a large part of northwest Syria. HTS was formerly known as the Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaida, but has since rebranded itself multiple times to distance its image from al-Qaida.
According to the observatory, both sides have been involved in drone strikes and artillery fire.
In one tragic incident, a strike on a furniture workshop on the outskirts of Idlib on Wednesday resulted in the deaths of 10 individuals, and left 32 others injured, many of whom were employees at the workshop, according to a statement from the local civil defense unit known as the White Helmets.
The White Helmets reported that rescue teams took seven grueling hours to pull victims from the debris, with eight teams deployed to treat the injured and recover the deceased.
This surge in violence coincides with an influx of people fleeing escalating Israeli attacks in neighboring Lebanon. Carden noted on Monday that roughly 3,000 displaced Syrians had recently arrived in northwest Syria from Lebanon, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.