Thousands flee north-west Syria amid fierce assault by Assad
Up to 30,000 leave area of Idlib province as government forces push to reopen road from Damascus to Aleppo
A mass exodus of civilians from the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria has begun as thousands of people flee towards the Turkish border in the face of a fierce new military assault by Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies.
As many as 30,000 people have left the area around the town of Maarat al-Numan after four days of airstrikes and heavy shelling paved the way for Syrian government troops to push deeper into north-western Idlib province.