GENEVA

A UN official on Wednesday condemned recent air and barrel bomb attacks in the northern Syrian region of Idlib, which have killed dozens of civilians, including children and women.

"Despite repeated assurances that warring parties only strike legitimate military targets, attacks on health and education facilities continue," said Najat Rochdi, a special adviser to UN Special Representative for Syria Geir Pedersen, in a statement released in Geneva.

She urged an immediate de-escalation and asked all parties to respect international law obligations, including to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Residents in the areas affected face significant hardship in exposed conditions, said the UN official.

There must be "unimpeded and safe humanitarian access to civilians in need must be guaranteed to allow the United Nations and its humanitarian partners to continue to carry out their critical work across northern Syria," said Rochdi.

She said they are displaced, some of them for the fifth to the tenth time, "many to over-crowded camps where humanitarian services are already overstretched."

The attacks came amid winter rains and dropping temperatures, and as flooding was threatening internally displaced peoples' camps and settlements. Almost 40 people have been killed in recent attacks since the start of December.

In 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

Since then, more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces in the de-escalation zone.

According to the local administration, Idlib is home to 2.4 million locals and 1.3 million internally displaced persons. If aggression by the regime and its allies continues, Turkey and the European continent face the risk of another refugee influx.

More than 1 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border following intense attacks.