At least 25,000 civilians have fled Syria's northwestern region of Idlib and headed towards Turkey over the past two days, Turkish state media said on Sunday, as Syrian and Russian forces intensified their bombardment of the region.
Turkey currently hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees, the largest refugee population in the world, and fears another wave from the Idlib region, where up to 3 million Syrians live in the last significant insurgent-held swathe of territory. Ankara has repeatedly asked its allies to support it in hosting refugees.
Hundreds of people have been killed this year in attacks on residential areas of Idlib, according to U.N. agencies. While a Syrian and Russian military campaign launched late in April had subsided in August under a fragile ceasefire, rescue teams said airstrikes killed six people in Maarat al Numan and 11 more in villages in the area on Friday.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to recapture Idlib, pushing more people towards Turkey. On Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said 50,000 people were fleeing from Idlib towards Syria's border with Turkey.