UN worries as violence rises in Syria's northwest

A UN representative voiced worry about the growing violence in Syrias northwest opposition-held area. David Carden‚ the UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria said that airstrikes hit close to a food distribution site and a power station‚ cutting off water supplies.

Carden stated that since monday 12 civilians including kids had died‚ and the increased violence has “stopped critical humanitarian activities including services provided by 10 health facilities“

Syrias civil war which started about 13 years ago‚ has become a frozen conflict. The country is split into areas controlled by Bashar Assads government‚ opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

The northwest opposition-held area remains a hot spot. In recent weeks rescue workers and a war monitor reported that Russian forces allied with Assad have increased bombing of the area.

On a recent wednesday‚ the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (a UK-based war monitor) said Russian warplanes launched 28 airstrikes in the countryside around Idlib and Latakia targeting both civilian and military areas.

Some Russian strikes targeted sites of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which controls much of northwest Syria. HTS was formerly known as the Nusra Front‚ the Syrian branch of al-Qaida‚ but later changed its name and distanced itself from al-Qaida.

A strike on a furniture-making workshop on Idlib citys outskirts killed 10 people and hurt 32‚ many of them workers‚ the local civil defense (also known as the White Helmets) said. They spent seven hours in a hard rescue operation‚ pulling survivors from the rubble.

The escalation happens as people are coming to northwest Syria after running from the growing Israeli bombardment in Lebanon. Carden said on monday that about 3‚000 newly-displaced Syrians had arrived in northwest Syria from Lebanon