Damascus, Dec 3 (FN Agency) More than 48,500 people have been displaced by fighting in northwest Syria from November 26-30, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. “Meanwhile, the displacement situation remains highly fluid, with partners verifying new figures daily. Over 48,500 people have been displaced as of 30 November – a steep increase from the 14,000 people reported on 28 November by the IDP Task Force, a group co-chaired by OCHA and the Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster to track population movements,” the organization said in a statement on Monday. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group (formerly known as the Nusra Front, banned in Russia) and a number of other armed groups launched a large-scale operation against the Syrian government on November 29, advancing from the north of the northwestern region of Idlib towards the cities of Aleppo and Hama. A day later, Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria, and its suburbs, including the international airport and the Kuweires military airfield, came under the control of the militants.
Aleppo fell under the militants’ complete control for the first time since the beginning of the ongoing conflict in Syria in 2011. Until the end of 2016, the armed opposition controlled only the eastern part of the city and was driven out by the Syrian army with the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces. After the capture of Aleppo, terrorist groups attempted to advance towards the city of Hama, capturing the city of Maarat al-Numan. In the north of Aleppo province, attempts are being made to advance deeper into the territories controlled by Kurdish formations in the area of the city of Tall Rifat. The Syrian army command, in turn, announced on December 1 that the advance of the terrorists in the region of Hama had been stopped and government troops had launched a counteroffensive, taking control of a number of settlements previously seized by the militants.