MAARET AL NUMAN: Regime forces have seized dozens of towns and villages in northwest Syria from fighters following days of violent clashes, fuelling an exodus of civilians, a war monitor said on Sunday. The fresh advances in Idlib province bring regime loyalists closer to capturing one of the largest urban centres in Syria’s last major opposition bastion, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “This push is an attempt to get closer to Maaret al Numan,” Observatory head Rami Abdul Rahman said. Residents of the southern Idlib town flooded out of the area fearing further advances, a correspondent there said.
The Observatory said more than 30,000 people had fled the flashpoint area in southern Idlib in recent days. Abu Akram, a resident, said rescue workers and local relief groups were struggling to get families out. “Everybody is working at full capacity but they can’t handle such a large number of people,” the father of five said after he couldn’t find a vehicle to drive his own family further north. The fighter-dominated Idlib region hosts some three million people including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria. — AFP
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