Skip links

Skip to Content
play

Live

Navigation menu

  • News
    • Middle East
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Ukraine war
  • Features
  • Economy
  • Opinion
  • Video
    • Coronavirus
    • Climate Crisis
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    • Podcasts
play

Live

In Pictures

Gallery

In Pictures: Syrians flee for safety as battle in northwest rages

More people have fled fighting in Syria over past 10 weeks than at any other time in the nine-year-old conflict.

Internally displaced Syrians from western Aleppo countryside, ride on the back of a truck with belongings in Hazano near Idlib, Syria, February 11, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Internally displaced Syrians from western Aleppo countryside, ride on the back of a truck with all their belongings in Hazano near Idlib. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Published On 12 Feb 202012 Feb 2020
facebooktwitterwhatsapp

More people have fled fighting in Syria over the past 10 weeks than at any other time in the nearly nine-year-old conflict and the city of Idlib, where many are sheltering, could become a graveyard if hostilities continue, two United Nations agencies said on Tuesday.

Syrian government forces are shelling their way northwards, backed by Russian air raids, driving people towards the Turkish border as they try to seize remaining rebel strongholds near Idlib and Aleppo.

Turkey, which backs the rebels and is fearful of additional refugees, has retaliated militarily, with displaced civilians caught in between.

“It’s the fastest-growing displacement we have ever seen in the country,” Jens Laerke from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, adding that nearly 700,000 people have fled since December, mostly women and children.

Of Syria’s 17 million people, 5.5 million are living as refugees in the region, mostly in Turkey, and a further six million are uprooted within their own country.

Civilians are struggling to find shelter, amid harsh winter conditions with snow, rain and wind from Storm Ciara. Mosques are full and makeshift camps are overcrowded, said Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency.

“Even finding a place in an unfinished building has become nearly impossible,” he told journalists in Geneva, describing the humanitarian crisis as “increasingly desperate”.

Displaced Syrians arrive at a camp for the internally displaced near Dayr Ballut, near the Turkish border in the rebel-held part of Aleppo province on February 11, 2020 after fleeing their homes in Id
Displaced Syrians arrive at a camp for the internally displaced near Deir Ballut in the rebel-held part of Aleppo province after fleeing their homes in Idlib and the surrounding areas. [Rami Al Sayed/AFP]
Advertisement
A large convoy of displaced Syrians who fled pro-regime attacks on rebel-held areas of the Idlib province, drive through the town of Dana, east of the Turkish-Syrian border toward safer parts of the s
More people have fled fighting in Syria over the past 10 weeks than at any other time in the nearly nine-year-old conflict. [Aaref Watad/AFP]
Internally displaced Syrians from western Aleppo countryside, ride on a tractor with belongings past Turkish military vehicles in Hazano near Idlib, Syria, February 11, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Internally displaced Syrians from western Aleppo countryside fleeing Syrian government forces shelling, drive past Turkish military vehicles in Hazano near Idlib. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Internally displaced Syrians from western Aleppo countryside, ride on a motorbike in Hazano near Idlib, Syria, February 11, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Nearly 700,000 people have been displaced since December, mostly women and children. [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]
Civilians flee from Idlib to find safety inside Syria near the border with Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. Syrian opposition activists say rebels have shot down a government helicopter gunship in the
Civilians flee from Idlib to find safety near the border with Turkey. [Ugur Can/DHA via AP Photo]
Emergency services carry a body of a person killed in a government airstrike in the city of Idlib, Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. The latest violence in Idlib came as government forces came closer to
Emergency services carry a body of a person killed in a government air raid in the city of Idlib. [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]
Advertisement
People gather after a government airstrike in the city of Idlib, Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. The latest violence in Idlib came as government forces came closer to capturing the last rebel-held part
The last wave of attacks came as government forces came closer to capturing the last rebel-held part of a strategic highway linking southern and northern Syria, which would bring the road under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's full control for the first time since 2012. [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]
An aerial view shows Turkish soldiers gathering in the village of Qaminas, about 6 kilometres southeast of Idlib city in northwestern Syria on February 10, 2020. - The Syrian army took control of a st
Turkish soldiers gathering in the village of Qaminas, about six kilometres (3.7 miles) southeast of Idlib city. [Omar Haj Kadour/AFP]
Syrian army units advance in the town of al-Eis in south Aleppo province on February 9, 2020, following battles with rebels and jihadists. - Al-Eis, which overlooks the M5, was on a front that saw fie
The Syrian army took control of a strategic northwestern crossroads town over the weekend - its latest gain in a weeks-long offensive against the country's last major rebel bastion of Idlib. [AFP]


    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Sitemap
    • Community Guidelines
    • Work for us
    • HR Quality
    • Contact Us
    • Apps
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners

Follow Al Jazeera English:

  • rss
  • instagram-colored-outline
  • youtube
  • twitter
  • facebook
Al Jazeera Media Network logo
© 2022 Al Jazeera Media Network