<p>Civilians on Friday packed a road leading out of northwest Syria, where two weeks of heightened regime and Russian bombardment has displaced 235,000 people.</p>.<p>Pick-up trucks carrying mattresses, clothes and house-hold appliances ferried entire families out of southern Idlib province, most heading towards safer areas further north, said an AFP correspondent on the ground.</p>.<p>Since mid-December, regime forces and their Russian allies have heightened bombardment on the southern edge of the final major opposition-held pocket of Syria, eight years into the country's devastating war.</p>.<p>The latest violence in the jihadist-dominated Idlib region has killed scores of civilians, despite an August ceasefire deal and international calls for a de-escalation.</p>.<p>More than 235,000 people fled the area between December 12 and 25, mostly from the beleaguered city of Maaret al-Numan which has been left "almost empty", according to the United Nations' humanitarian coordination agency OCHA.</p>.<p>OCHA spokesman David Swanson said Friday that more than 80 per cent of those who have fled southern Idlib this month are women and children.</p>.<p>"I can't live in the camps," said Umm Abdo, a mother of five who recently arrived in a displacement camp in the town of Dana, north of Idlib's provincial capital.</p>.<p>"The rain is very strong, and we need heating... clothes, and food," she said, her tired eyes showing through her veil.</p>.<p>The Idlib region hosts some three million people, including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.</p>.<p>It is dominated by the country's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, whose chief this week urged jihadists and allied rebels to head to the frontlines and battle "the Russian occupiers" and the regime.</p>.<p>Since December 19, HTS jihadists and their rebel allies have been locked in fierce battles with regime forces around Maaret al-Numan.</p>.<p>Damascus loyalists have seized dozens of towns and villages from jihadists in clashes that have killed hundreds of fighters on both sides.</p>.<p>The advances have brought them to within four kilometres (two and a half miles) of Maaret al-Numan, one of Idlib's largest urban centres.</p>.<p>According to OCHA, ongoing battles have further amplified displacement from the area and the nearby town of Saraqeb.</p>.<p>"People from Saraqab and its eastern countryside are now fleeing in anticipation of fighting directly affecting their communities next," it said.</p>.<p>The mass displacement could not come at a worse time, with heavy rainfall flooding squalid camps for the displaced.</p>.<p>"Being forced to move in winter months exacerbates existing vulnerabilities, particularly of the women, children, elderly, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups," OCHA said.</p>.<p>Since mid-December, the fighting has killed nearly 80 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.</p>.<p>US President Donald Trump reacted to the violence in a tweet on Thursday, saying that "Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing, thousands of innocent civilians in Idlib Province".</p>.<p>He added that Turkey was "working hard to stop this carnage".</p>.<p>The escalation has forced aid groups to suspend operations in the area, exasperating already dire humanitarian conditions, OCHA said.</p>.<p>Idlib's residents mainly depend on critical cross-border aid, which came under threat last week after Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended such deliveries for a year.</p>.<p>The move raised fears that vital UN-funded aid could stop entering Idlib from January unless an alternative agreement is reached.</p>.<p>The Syrian regime pulled out of its last outposts in Idlib province in 2015, following fierce battles with rebels and al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists.</p>.<p>The Damascus regime, which now controls 70 percent of Syria, has repeatedly vowed to take back the region.</p>.<p>Backed by Moscow, Damascus launched a blistering offensive against Idlib in April, killing around 1,000 civilians and displacing more than 400,000 people.</p>.<p>Despite a ceasefire announced in August, the bombardment has continued, prompting Turkey this week to press for a fresh ceasefire deal during talks in Moscow.</p>.<p>France on Tuesday called for an "immediate de-escalation", warning of deteriorating humanitarian conditions.</p>.<p>The war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it began with anti-government demonstrations brutally crushed by security forces.</p>
<p>Civilians on Friday packed a road leading out of northwest Syria, where two weeks of heightened regime and Russian bombardment has displaced 235,000 people.</p>.<p>Pick-up trucks carrying mattresses, clothes and house-hold appliances ferried entire families out of southern Idlib province, most heading towards safer areas further north, said an AFP correspondent on the ground.</p>.<p>Since mid-December, regime forces and their Russian allies have heightened bombardment on the southern edge of the final major opposition-held pocket of Syria, eight years into the country's devastating war.</p>.<p>The latest violence in the jihadist-dominated Idlib region has killed scores of civilians, despite an August ceasefire deal and international calls for a de-escalation.</p>.<p>More than 235,000 people fled the area between December 12 and 25, mostly from the beleaguered city of Maaret al-Numan which has been left "almost empty", according to the United Nations' humanitarian coordination agency OCHA.</p>.<p>OCHA spokesman David Swanson said Friday that more than 80 per cent of those who have fled southern Idlib this month are women and children.</p>.<p>"I can't live in the camps," said Umm Abdo, a mother of five who recently arrived in a displacement camp in the town of Dana, north of Idlib's provincial capital.</p>.<p>"The rain is very strong, and we need heating... clothes, and food," she said, her tired eyes showing through her veil.</p>.<p>The Idlib region hosts some three million people, including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.</p>.<p>It is dominated by the country's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, whose chief this week urged jihadists and allied rebels to head to the frontlines and battle "the Russian occupiers" and the regime.</p>.<p>Since December 19, HTS jihadists and their rebel allies have been locked in fierce battles with regime forces around Maaret al-Numan.</p>.<p>Damascus loyalists have seized dozens of towns and villages from jihadists in clashes that have killed hundreds of fighters on both sides.</p>.<p>The advances have brought them to within four kilometres (two and a half miles) of Maaret al-Numan, one of Idlib's largest urban centres.</p>.<p>According to OCHA, ongoing battles have further amplified displacement from the area and the nearby town of Saraqeb.</p>.<p>"People from Saraqab and its eastern countryside are now fleeing in anticipation of fighting directly affecting their communities next," it said.</p>.<p>The mass displacement could not come at a worse time, with heavy rainfall flooding squalid camps for the displaced.</p>.<p>"Being forced to move in winter months exacerbates existing vulnerabilities, particularly of the women, children, elderly, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups," OCHA said.</p>.<p>Since mid-December, the fighting has killed nearly 80 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.</p>.<p>US President Donald Trump reacted to the violence in a tweet on Thursday, saying that "Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing, thousands of innocent civilians in Idlib Province".</p>.<p>He added that Turkey was "working hard to stop this carnage".</p>.<p>The escalation has forced aid groups to suspend operations in the area, exasperating already dire humanitarian conditions, OCHA said.</p>.<p>Idlib's residents mainly depend on critical cross-border aid, which came under threat last week after Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended such deliveries for a year.</p>.<p>The move raised fears that vital UN-funded aid could stop entering Idlib from January unless an alternative agreement is reached.</p>.<p>The Syrian regime pulled out of its last outposts in Idlib province in 2015, following fierce battles with rebels and al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists.</p>.<p>The Damascus regime, which now controls 70 percent of Syria, has repeatedly vowed to take back the region.</p>.<p>Backed by Moscow, Damascus launched a blistering offensive against Idlib in April, killing around 1,000 civilians and displacing more than 400,000 people.</p>.<p>Despite a ceasefire announced in August, the bombardment has continued, prompting Turkey this week to press for a fresh ceasefire deal during talks in Moscow.</p>.<p>France on Tuesday called for an "immediate de-escalation", warning of deteriorating humanitarian conditions.</p>.<p>The war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it began with anti-government demonstrations brutally crushed by security forces.</p>