80 percent of refugees are women and children ‘No safe places, bombs fall everywhere’ JEDDAH: The UN warned on Tuesday of a humanitarian disaster in northwest Syria after more than half a million civilians fled an Assad regime offensive in Idlib province. Weeks of airstrikes by regime and Russian warplanes, and relentless attacks by ground forces aiming to recapture opposition-held territory, have forced the refugees north toward the border with Turkey. “Since Dec. 1, about 520,000 people have been displaced from their homes, the vast majority — 80 percent — women and children,” said UN humanitarian spokesman Jens Laerke. “This latest displacement compounds an already dire humanitarian situation on the ground, when over 400,000 people were displaced from the end of April to the end of August, many of them several times. “There are no safe places in Idlib, bombs fall everywhere and anywhere, even those fleeing the front-line areas are not safe and there is just a sea of people moving in all directions. FASTFACT Assad regime troops and militias backed by Russia and Iran have recaptured dozens of villages and towns in recent weeks, including the former opposition bastion of Maaret Al-Numan. “Many of the displaced have left with nothing but the clothes on their back or what they could pile on to ramshackle vehicles. They urgently need shelter, food, water and sanitation support, health support, emergency education and not least protection.” The World Health Organization has warned that conditions in Idlib are a breeding ground for illness and disease. In the town of Hazano, dozens of small trucks, vans and tuk-tuks piled high with belongings crawled along a main road. They advanced bumper-to-bumper, carrying men, women and children — but also blankets, carpets, washbasins, chairs, cupboards and doors. Mohammad Bahjat, 34, said he and his wife and three small boys were escaping deadly bombardment for the third time in days. “We fled in the middle of the night, and have no idea where to go,” he said. “You never know when a rocket or shell is going to hit.” Assad regime troops and militias backed by Russia and Iran have recaptured dozens of villages and towns in recent weeks, including the former opposition bastion of Maaret Al-Numan. They advanced on Tuesday to 8 km south of Idlib city, driving displaced civilians closer to the Turkish border. Under an agreement reached in Sochi last year, Russia is supposed to prevent the Assad regime from attacking Idlib. The new offensive has angered Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and strained ties with Moscow. “Syria is trying to gain territory by driving those innocent and grieving people in Idlib toward our borders,” Erdogan said on Tuesday. “We will not allow Syria the opportunity to gain ground there.”