IDLIB: Thousands of protesters in Syria's rebel enclave of Idlib on Tuesday marked 11 years since an anti-government uprising, buoyed by the global outcry over Russia's attack of Ukraine.
Gathered on the main square in the northwestern city of Idlib, more than 5,000 people took part in one of the largest rallies the beleaguered region has seen in months.
Many of the demonstrators hoped that the war launched by Russia in Ukraine would rekindle some interest in their cause.
"What is happening in Ukraine today is similar to the situation here, the enemy is the same and the goal is the same," protester Radwan Atrash said. Bashar al Assad's grip on power held by a thread after a nationwide uprising that erupted on March 15, 2011 escalated into a fully-fledged civil war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to throw his military might behind the government changed the course of the conflict and saved Assad's hold on power.
The main killers in a war that has left half a million people dead is by some margin the government and its allies, who include Russian forces, as well as a myriad of fighter groups.
Around four million people, at least half of them displaced, now live in a region of northwestern Syria that is the last enclave fighting Assad's rule despite years of deadly Russian-backed offensives.
A few Ukrainian flags were visible at the Idlib protest, as were banners expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian people and demanding action against Putin. A medic among the protesters at the city's main roundabout had some advice for his counterparts in Ukraine.
"Fortify your hospitals with cement blocks, the enemy Putin does not distinguish between civilians, wounded people and fighters," said Ali Hamoush, who works at an Idlib hospital.
Russian attack has repeatedly targeted medical facilities in Syria, according to witnesses, medics and human rights groups. A paediatric hospital was hit by an apparent Russian strike in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol last week, causing an uproar and fuelling accusations of war crimes against Putin. - AFP
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