Several activists in the city of Raqqa stood in solidarity with civilians in the province of Idlib, which is facing an intensified bombing campaign carried out by Russian and Syrian regime forces.

On 1 January, activists held up banners condemning the attacks against civilians by Russian and Syrian forces.

Activists also painted some of the city walls in blue and wrote many sentences such as “here is Raqqa and here is Idlib,” and “Idlib is under fire.”

According to some observatories and the Syrian Civil Defense (SCD), the southern and eastern countryside of Idlib has been subjected to large-scale military offensive launched by Russian and Syrian forces, represented by an intensive aerial bombardment and missile strikes on neighborhoods and popular markets, as well as the town of Sarmin, which was targeted for the first time in months.

Russian-backed Syrian forces have escalated their attacks on Idlib since mid-December 2019, through which they gained control of 31  military posts and villages in the southern and eastern countryside of Idlib.

The escalation coincided with air raids on the city of Maraat al-Numan and its eastern countryside, leading to the displacement of 264,000 people to the border areas, as documented by the Syrian Response Coordinator Group (SRCG).

According to the official narrative of the Syrian regime, the aerial and missile bombardment targeted the sites of “terrorist organizations” in the province of Idlib, referring to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and its allies. Deaths of civilians, including children, in the bombardment, were reported and documented by the SRCG.