As Assad’s forces continue to bomb villages in the southern Idleb and the northern Hama countryside for the sixth day running, Turkish forces in an observation point near the town of Murak north of Hama on Wednesday called for area notables to urgently meet at the Turkish observation point to reassure residents and to keep them from being displaced from their villages.
Daifallah al-Murr, head of the local council for the town of Umm Jalal south of Idleb, told Hurriya Press: “Today, Turkish officials reassured residents during their meeting with notables from the southeastern Idleb countryside. They said that there had been no military advance on the ground by regime forces and that the mobilization and media pressure were part of a pyschological war on liberated areas. With regards to the regime’s bombardment, the Turks promised that if the bombardment continued for two more days, they would respond by firing on the sources.”
With regards to the displacement situation in southern Idleb, Murr said that 11 villages populated by original residents and displaced people had already been displaced because of the recent bombardment. These villages were: Umm Jalal, al-Tamanah, Mazraat al-Ali, Tel al-Sheikh, Abou Habbeh, al-Skiat, Tahtaya, Sahal, al-Breida, Um al-Khalakheil, al-Rifa, and al-Farha. Meanwhile displaced people in were spread throughout the al-Sarman area around the Turkish observation point, the Atmeh border area, al-Deir al-Sharqi, al-Deir al-Gharbi, Afrin, Kafrdian, Sarmada, and the camps of Deir Hassan. The rest were in farmlands near the site of the bombardment.
On Wednesday, four civilians were killed including a child and three others wounded by barrel bombs and missiles that targeted the farmlands of the town of al-Tamanah south of Idleb. Civil Defense members worked to inspect the areas that had been struck and treat wounded while removing the dead, according to the Civil Defense in Khan Sheikhoun.
The Assad regime also continued to send military reinforcements to its positions in northern Syria.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
