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Civilian Death Toll Mounts as Syrian Offensive Widens

Reuters

   BEIRUT -Airstrikes have killed more thantwo dozen civilians in
   northwestern Syria in the last two daysin an escalation of a
   Russian-backed offensive against the lastmajor rebel stronghold, a war
   monitor and local activists saidSaturday.

   An airstrike in the village of DeirSharkikilled sevenmembers of one
   family, most of them children, on Saturdaymorning, the Syrian
   Observatory for Human Rights said. Anotherseven people were killed by
   bombardments in other areas, itsaid.

   On Friday, airstrikes in the village of al-Haas killed 13people. The
   dead included a pregnant woman and her unborn baby,local activists and
   the observatory said. They had been seekingshelter after fleeing
   another area.

   Rami Abdulrahman, director of the observatory, said thegovernment's aim
   was apparently to force civilians to flee fromareas that had been
   relatively unscathed in the militaryescalation that began in late
   April.

   "They are bombing the towns and their outskirts to pushpeople to flee,"
   he said, adding that hundreds of families weremoving northward, away
   from the targeted areas.

   No military positions

   Ahmad al-Dbis, safety and security manager for theU.S.-based Union of
   Medical Care and Relief Organizations(UOSSM), which supports medical
   facilities in the northwest,said the bombardment had widened into
   populated areas wherethere were no military positions.

   "They are being targeted to drive the people
   towardsforceddisplacement," he told Reuters.

   Dbissaid the number of civilians killed by government orRussian forces
   stood at more than 730 since late April. The U.N.Office for the
   Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has saidmore than 500 civilians
   have died in hostilities.

   Russia and Syria have said their forces are not targetingcivilians and
   are instead aimed at militants including theHayat Tahrir al-Sham, a
   jihadist group formerly known as the al-NusraFront andJabhat Fatah
   al-Sham.

   The northwestern region including Idlib province is part ofthe last
   major foothold of the opposition to President Basharal-Assad.

   Government troops advance

   The government side has been advancing toward KhanSheikhounin southern
   Idlib province, threatening toencircle the last remaining pocket of
   rebel-held territory inneighboringHama province.

   Capt. NajiMusafa, spokesman for rebel National LiberationFront, said
   fierce clashes were raging in southern Idlibprovince and adjoining
   areas of Hama province.

   France called Friday for an immediate end to thefighting. The French
   Foreign Ministry added that it condemned inparticular airstrikeson
   camps for the displaced.

   The surge in violence has already forced hundreds ofthousands of people
   to flee toward the border with Turkey,which backs some of the rebels in
   the northwest and has its owntroops on the ground in the area.

   A Turkey-backed Syrian rebel force based north of Aleppo, the National
   Army, said it had yet to sendreinforcements to help the Idlib rebels
   because of technicalreasons.

   The National Army had said it would send the fighters Friday.

   "There is a meeting today among the factions overpreparations for the
   National Army to enter Idlib, and we areawaiting the results of this
   meeting," Maj. YoussefHammoud,its spokesman, said.

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