Maaret al-Numan, a former anti-government protest hotspot turned ghost town after weeks of bombardment, lies on a key highway connecting the capital to second city Aleppo. “Our forces managed in the past few days to stamp out terrorism in many villages and towns,” including Maaret al-Numan, an army spokesman said. In 2011, Maaret al-Numan was one of the first towns in the northwestern province of Idlib to rise up against the Damascus government. In areas north of Maaret al-Numan, bombardment by government ally Russia has prompted a fresh wave of displacement in recent days, with hundreds of vehicles cramming a key exit route, AFP correspondents reported. What remains of rebel-held territory includes more than half of Idlib province, as well as slivers of adjacent Aleppo and Latakia.

Source: Pakistan Today January 29, 2020 12:33 UTC