BALADI NEWS
The White Helmets criticised the international community on Friday (May 31) for not pressuring Russia to halt what they described as a "barbaric campaign against Idlib province".
Speaking at a news conference, Raed Saleh, the chairman of White Helmets - known officially as Syria Civil Defence - said there was no international pressure on Russia, even from Arab or Islamic countries.
The Kremlin said on Friday it was Turkey's responsibility to stop opposition in Syria's Idlib province from firing on civilian and Russian targets, signalling it would continue to back an Assad offensive there despite Ankara's protests.
The month-long offensive, the biggest escalation of the war between Bashar Assad and the Syrian protesting people since last summer, has raised fears of a humanitarian crisis as thousands of people shelter from air strikes at the Turkish border.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday (May 30) that he wanted a ceasefire in Idlib to prevent more civilian deaths and a refugee influx to Turkey.
The United Nations said last week that more than 200,000 people had fled the violence since the regime offensive began at the end of April. The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM), which provides assistance to health facilities, put the number at more than 300,000.
Many of those who have fled had already been displaced from their homes earlier in the war, sometimes fleeing time after time as the battles moved and frontlines shifted.
Source: Orient Net.