More than 700,000 displaced in north-west Syria: UN

Beirut (dpa) 13 Feb 2020- 
More than 700,000 people have been displaced in north-western Syria since December due to an ongoing government offensive targeting the last rebel stronghold in the country, the United Nations said on Thursday.  

“Since December 1, over 700,000 women, children and men have been displaced from their homes in north-west Syria,” David Swanson, a spokesman of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told dpa.  

“This latest displacement compounds an already dire humanitarian situation on the ground in Idlib,” he added, referring to the volatile region.  

Whole towns in the region have been emptied as an increasing number of civilians flee northward to areas deemed safer, according to Swanson.  

“Many are fleeing in open trucks or by foot, often at night, in a desperate bid to escape detection. All this while night-time temperatures drop below zero,” he said.  

At least 290,000 children have been displaced from their homes as a result of the violence there, according to Save the Children.