On January 29, 2020 at 22:40 Damascus time, multiple airstrikes hit Al Shami Surgical Hospital in Ariha, Idlib injuring four nurses, the director of the facility and an administrator (in critical condition). At least six people were killed as they waited outside the hospital. The hospital was heavily damaged and put out of service. Since April 2019, there have been at least 74 attacks on medical facilities. In the past 48 hours, over 80,000 civilians have been displaced from Ariha and Saraqeb, fleeing heavy airstrikes on civilian areas. Since January 1, at least 138 civilians have been killed.
According to OHCHR monitoring, from January 15 to 23, OCHR confirmed incidents in which at least 81 civilians including 13 women, 14 girls and 20 boys were killed as a result of airstrikes and ground operations. Of these, eight civilians including four women and two boys were killed in Aleppo city and 44 civilians including seven women, 13 girls and 11 boys were killed in western rural Aleppo alone – more than 50% of the total.
From December 1, 2019 to January 27, 2020, the UN reported nearly 390,000 people were displaced. Given the challenges in collecting data in active conflict, UOSSM estimates the number of internally displaced to be significantly higher. Roughly 80% were women and children, and were displaced mostly from large population centers such as Saraqeb and Maarat Al Nouman, as well as smaller towns and villages in southern Idlib. Many have been displaced multiple times, increasing their vulnerability and inability to cope.
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