Hundreds of civilians flee Idlib

Hundreds of Syrian civilians fled Idlib province yesterday as the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey readied for last-ditch talks on the fate of the last rebel bastion.

Government forces and their allies have been massing around Idlib, where aid groups fear what could be the last major battle of Syria's seven-year civil war may also prove the deadliest.

Western powers have warned against a bloodbath but Damascus and Moscow seem adamant that an offensive is needed to root out the jihadists who dominate the province.

Russia yesterday vowed to continue to kill "terrorists" in Idlib and elsewhere in Syria to bring back peace.

"We have killed, we are killing and we will kill terrorists...whether that be in Aleppo, Idlib or other parts of Syria. Peace must return to Syria," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in comments reported by Russian agencies.

"This is a question of our security," she added.

Sporadic bombardment has targeted armed groups on Idlib's fringes in recent days, with fresh Syrian artillery and Russian air bombardment of the southeast of the province yesterday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The attacks prompted terrified residents to flee before a fully-fledged assault gets under way, the monitor said.

"Around 180 families, or some 1,000 people" have fled their homes since Wednesday night towards rebel territory further east, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

The number displaced so far is tiny compared to the 800,000 that the United Nations fears may be thrown onto the roads, more than a quarter of the rebel zone's population.

An AFP correspondent in Idlib saw convoys of families heading north, towards areas closer to the border with Turkey and less exposed to the launch of a major offensive.

Turkey, which sponsors some of the rebel groups competing with the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance in Idlib, is scrambling to avert an assault from which it has much to lose.

Russia wants Turkey to exert its influence in Idlib to rein in jihadist and other fighters, but Ankara's progress has been slow and HTS remains the strongest force in the province.

"We can work together to render those (radical groups) ineffective. The solution is not to bomb or attack all over Idlib, without any distinction," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

Turkey already hosts three million Syrian refugees and fears a large scale military operation in Idlib will push more over its border.

The fate of the province, which has been used as a relief valve for tens of thousands of fighters and civilians evacuated from other parts of the country following surrender deals, could be decided in Tehran today.

The presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey -- the three main power brokers in Syria -- are due to meet as part of the ongoing Astana process aimed at ending the conflict.