Jisr al-Shughur become a ghost town after displacement of 90% of the population
Idlib – North-Press Agency
Baraa Darwish
The Heavy and daily aerial bombardments by the Syrian and Russian fighter jets on various parts of Idlib governorate in northwestern Syria have displaced hundreds of thousands of people towards the northern parts of the governorate and areas close to the Syrian-Turkish borders.
The city of Jisr al-Shughur, in the western countryside of Idlib, which had witnessed heavy waves of bombardment that destroyed dozens of houses, shops, vital and service facilities, including the last field hospital in the city, which urged the residents to flee the city in large numbers, amid fears of re-escalations.
North-Press reported that more than 90% of the residents of Jisr al-Shughur had fled due to the intense shelling that has been underway for about 10 days.
The city turned into a ghost town as a result of this escalation, and the large displacement wave towards the northern parts of Idlib governorate, into IDP camps, villages and towns in the countryside of Idlib, as the city of Jisr al-Shughur had become almost evacuated of its population with a complete absence of life.
Salem Sheikh Muhammad, a resident of Jisr al-Shughur who hasn’t fled the city yet, said that all the neighborhoods were destroyed, and the majority of the residents were displaced to camps and villages of Jisr al-Shughur countryside, only a very little number remained.
Abu Muhammad, another citizen, said: “The city of Jisr al-Shughur has become a devastated city, more than 90% of its population were displaced and those who have no financial capacity to move, remained in the area,” pointing to the poor humanitarian situation in the region.
Abu Muhammad expressed the citizens’ resentment and dissatisfaction with the current situation, stressing the ineffectiveness of the Turkish observation posts deployed in northwestern Syria as he wondered: “Did they put the Turkish observation posts to record the number of the fallen rockets on Idlib and the region?”
The airstrikes targeting the neighborhoods of Jisr al-Shughur in the western countryside of Idlib have resulted in severe material damage and casualties, which have led the local council in Jisr al-Shughur to declare it as a devastated city.
The head of the local council of Jisr al-Shughur, Ismail Hasnawi, in an earlier interview with North-Press said that the bombing was intensified on the market and other residential neighborhoods, and on the only hospital in the city and its nearby countryside.
He also mentioned the death and wounding of dozens of people in the city, where the wounded and patients were moved from Jisr al-Shughour Hospital to other hospitals in the area, while no aids were offered for the displaced people who have fled towards northern Idlib, as he said.