Story highlights
In the space of a few weeks, the Syrian battlefield has been transformed
The Assad regime has severed the main road from Aleppo to the Turkish border
A defining battle for Aleppo, Syria's largest city before the war, seems imminent
The images from Aleppo, Idlib and Syria’s border with Turkey can be described in one word: despair.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the relentless bombing and shelling that has paved the way for dramatic battlefield gains by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and its allies. Hundreds of thousands more remain trapped, awaiting their fate with trepidation.
In the space of a few weeks, the Syrian battlefield has been transformed, the balance of forces pulverized and the prospects for peace talks – already dark – virtually extinguished. Another tide of displaced civilians converge on the Turkish border, trapped by the advance of regime forces.
