'During a lull in régime bombardment, Abu Abdo al-Sarmani drove a pickup hurtling into his wrecked hometown in Syria’s Idlib province to grab his family’s belongings a day after they fled. The northwestern town of Khan Sheikhoun is supposed to be protected by an internationally brokered cease-fire deal, but increased shelling and airstrikes by régime forces last month have left its streets near empty.
“There was a truce and everything quietened down, and then suddenly the bombardment picked up again and we could no longer stay,” Sarmani said, wearing a maroon bomber jacket.
“The bombardment was so close ... I spent two hours hiding in the bathroom,” the 36-year-old said, describing the events that pushed his family to flee last week.
Khan Sheikhoun lies in the Idlib region, the last major bastion of opposition to President Bashar Assad in Syria.
In September, rebel backer Turkey and régime ally Russia inked a deal to set up a buffer zone around the region, part of which runs just south of Khan Sheikhoun.
Sarmani said he, his wife and three daughters escaped Khan Sheikhoun last week because of the bombardment, but also because the town has become unlivable.
“There’s no work, no more people about, no hospitals, no doctors, no pharmacies, no basic infrastructure for living,” said the accountant, whose family has relocated to Sarmada, 100 kilometers north.
Outside Khan Sheikhoun, two lone donkeys stood in a field of bright green grass, as shelling sent a grey cloud billowing up into the sky.
“We hope we won’t be displaced for long,” Sarmani said, standing by a pickup truck loaded with a large plastic rug, pillows, and a cooking gas canister.
Eight years into Syria’s civil war, the Damascus régime has gained ground against rebels and militants with Russian military backing since 2015. It now controls nearly two thirds of the country and has taken back control of most of the main commercial arteries.
But a section of the highway linking the capital to the northern city of Aleppo remains out of its reach as it runs through Idlib, including through Khan Sheikhoun.
At least 46 civilians including 18 children have been killed in bombardment on the town since the start of February, the civil defense says.
Elsewhere in Khan Sheikhoun, 29-year-old Ahmad Faraj and his family brought out what remained of their belongings from a temporary home shot through with rocket fire.
In their pickup, the farmer from the nearby village of Zaka piled blue plastic chairs, and bags of pistachio husks his family would later burn for heating.
“When we came here about three months ago, the town was safe,” Faraj said, dressed in a zipped dark blue hoodie.
But “for a month, there has been violent bombardment ... The war planes have started up again,” he said.
In order to stay close to his land, Faraj, his wife and child had headed to Morek, a town in the nearby buffer zone.
They hoped Turkish observers deployed there under the September deal would earn them some protection, but said conditions were likely to be tough. “Running water, sewers, electricity - there’s absolutely none of that,” he said.'
[https://twitter.com/Kyruer/status/1103927692292837379]
"Turkish army convoy patrolling in Southern Idlib today to prevent régime shelling on civilians. There was no régime shelling today."
[https://twitter.com/worldonalert/status/1104029455935332353]
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