![]() A small crowd was milling about: local journalists, election monitors, and suited dignitaries who, in international circles, represented the Syrian opposition. He soon headed to Idlib Gate, a former department store that had been turned into a meeting hall. On the morning that polls were to open, an activist named Osama al-Hossein woke up at five o’clock, feeling anxious. In the summer of 2017, for the first time anywhere in Syria since 1954, the residents of the town of Saraqib decided to seize control of their future-and hold a genuinely free election. ![]() Idlib residents, in the meantime, must continue to live on a capricious battlefield with no rule of law and no clear governing authority. This could spark a refugee crisis of historic proportions, driving millions of people into Turkey and Europe. special envoy Brett McGurk called Idlib “the largest Al Qaeda safe haven since 9/11.” Syria’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad, has vowed to launch an invasion of Idlib, which could subject its cinder-block towns and villages to rockets, barrel bombs, cluster bombs, even chemical weapons. They live in the country’s last remaining opposition enclave, amid a chaotic assortment of rebels, the most powerful of whom are religious fundamentalists. ![]() The province of Idlib, a pocket of rolling olive groves and shimmering wheat fields in northern Syria, is home to three million people who, since 2015, have been effectively trapped. This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
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