All news

Nearly 1,000 people leave Syria’s Idlib via humanitarian corridor

The majority of refugees are women and children

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Civilians are leaving militant-controlled areas in the Syrian province of Idlib. The Suriya al-Ain news portal reports that on Wednesday, about 1,000 people used the humanitarian corridor in Abu al-Duhur, built near the border with the province of Aleppo. The majority of refugees are women and children.

One of the refugees stated that people leave Idlib to escape from the militants of Jabhat al-Nusra (terror group outlawed in Russia). "Many fear that if the military action begins, the terrorists will use the civilians as a human shield," he said.

As Syria’s Minister of State for National Reconciliation Ali Heidar stated earlier, "Idlib has become a haven for the most radical forces in the camp of anti-government units, which cannot become part of the Syrian government’s political project." According to him, "no mutual understanding and agreements is possible with this category of militants."

On August 16, Syrian military opened a humanitarian corridor for civilians in the area of Abu al-Duhur.

Idlib is the only Syrian region that remains in the hands of illegal armed groups. In 2017, a northern de-escalation zone was set up there, with Turkey responsible for maintaining stability in it. Together with Russia and Iran, Turkey is guarantor of the Syrian ceasefire.