Severe rainfall in northern Syria floods displaced civilians' tents

By Ahmet Karaahmet and Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - The tents of 525 families were submerged in camps from heavy rainfall in the northwestern province of Idlib in Syria where civilians are fleeing attacks by Syrian army forces.

The White Helmets civil defense group said in a statement that due to the downpour, the tents in 43 camps near the village of Atme in northern Idlib were flooded.

It indicated that civil defense teams dispatched to areas where the camps are located have started efforts to drain the water.

Heavy rainfall Jan. 13 in Atme caused the tents, where 1,118 families are staying, to be flooded.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of people have since been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN figures.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul