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Residents of NW Syria Flee New Government Offensive

Associated Press

   BEIRUT - Syrian government forces pressed ahead Monday with a new
   military assault on the country's last rebel stronghold that began last
   week, an offensive that has set off a mass exodus of civilians fleeing
   to safer areas near the Turkish border.

   Under the cover of airstrikes and heavy shelling, Syrian troops have
   been pushing into the northwestern province of Idlib toward a major
   rebel-held town, Maaret al-Numan. The town sits on a key highway
   linking the capital Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's
   largest.

   The immediate goal of Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces appeared
   to be reopening the highway, which has been closed by the rebels since
   2012.

   Idlib province is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. It's also
   home to 3 million civilians, and the United Nations has warned of the
   growing risk of a humanitarian catastrophe along the Turkish border.
   The United Nations says over half of the civilians in Idlib have been
   internally displaced following continuing reports of airstrikes in the
   area.

   U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is alarmed by the escalation of
   fighting and is calling for an immediate halt to hostilities, his
   spokesman said late Monday.

   The spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said earlier that a U.N.-negotiated
   six-hour humanitarian pause had enabled safe passage for more than
   2,500 people to flee.

   Over the past three days, some 39 communities were reportedly been
   affected by shelling in northern Hama, southern Idlib and western
   Aleppo governorates, while 47 communities were reportedly hit by
   airstrikes, Dujarric said.

   "The U.N. urges all parties to ensure the protection of civilians, and
   to allow sustained and unhindered access by all humanitarian parties to
   provide life-saving assistance to all in need,'' the U.N. spokesman
   said.

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