*DAMASCUS – Violence in northwest Syria has displaced more than 30,000people this month alone, the United Nations said on Monday, warning that alooming assault could create the century’s “worst humanitariancatastrophe”.*

Idlib province and adjacent rural areas form the largest piece of territorystill held by Syria’s beleaguered rebels, worn down by a succession ofgovernment victories in recent months.

President Bashar al-Assad has now set his sights on Idlib, and his forceshave stepped up bombardment of the densely populated province since thebeginning of the month.

That has prompted an estimated 30,452 people to be displaced within Idliband parts of adjacent Hama province between September 1 and 9, the UN’shumanitarian coordination agency (OCHA) said on Monday.

“We’re deeply concerned about this recent escalation of violence, which hasresulted in the displacement of over 30,000 in the area. That’s somethingwe’re monitoring very closely,” OCHA spokesman David Swanson told AFP.

Many made a dash for Syria’s northern border with Turkey, with just underhalf seeking refuge in displacement camps and others living with localfamilies or renting apartments.

An AFP correspondent in Idlib has seen dozens of displaced families headtowards the frontier in recent days to escape bombing elsewhere.

On Monday, on the main highway running across the province, men onmotorbikes headed north with their children on foot, herding dozens ofsheep.‘We escaped’

Abu Jassim said he and his family were fleeing the latest bombardment nearthe southern town of Khan Sheikhun, after already having been displacedseveral times within the province due to the war.

“They hit with four rockets so we escaped with our flock”, he said.

“We go wherever it’s safe,” said the man in his 30s.

“I have 30 sheep. Every day, I need water, hay and bran to feed them.”

The UN has said as many as 800,000 people could be displaced by a regimeassault on Idlib and surrounding areas.

Some three million people live in the zone now, about half of them alreadydisplaced by the brutal seven-year war and others heavily dependent onhumanitarian aid to survive.

For weeks, regime troops backed by Russia and Iran have massed aroundIdlib’s periphery, with deadly air strikes, shelling, and barrel bombsparticularly building up in recent days.

Two children were killed in heavy barrel bomb attacks on a village inIdlib’s south Sunday, a day after 10 civilians died in shelling across therebel zone, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Syria’s conflict has killed more than 350,000 people and forced millionsmore out of their homes, but the UN has warned a full-blown attack on Idlibcould bring unprecedented suffering.

On Monday, its humanitarian chief made an urgent appeal.

“There needs to be ways of dealing with this problem that don’t turn thenext few months in Idlib into the worst humanitarian catastrophe with thebiggest loss of life in the 21st century,” Mark Lowcock told reporters inGeneva.Hospitals hit

He acknowledged that there were many rebels and fighters from “terrorist”groups in the province, but stressed that “there are 100 civilians, most ofthem women and children, for every fighter in Idlib”.

Idlib is mostly controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — an alliancespearheaded by powerful militants once linked to Al-Qaeda.

Its population ballooned as the regime chalked up a series of victoriesacross the country, reaching deals that saw tens of thousands of rebels andcivilians bussed into Idlib. The escalating bombardment has already damagedcivilian infrastructure.

At least two hospitals and two centres running rescue operations forwounded people were put out of service by shelling and air strikes,according to the Britain-based Observatory and the Union of Medical Careand Relief Organisations, which backs medical centres in Syria.

The conflict’s three powerbrokers — regime allies Russia and Iran and rebelbacker Turkey — agreed at a summit last week to “stabilise” Idlib, but fewdetails emerged on how they would do.

Delegations from the three countries will be in Geneva on Tuesday to meetthe UN’s Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura.

Moscow wants to keep rebels from using weaponised drones against Russianwarplanes positioned nearby.

Meanwhile Turkey, which already hosts three million Syrian refugees, iskeen to prevent an assault that would see hundreds of thousands more massalong its border. – APP/AFP