Syria Direct reports: This past weekend, regime forces backed by “unprecedented Russian airstrikes” captured the last rebel stronghold of Jabel Turkman in northern Latakia, the director of the majority-Turkman, Free Syrian Army affiliated Second Army of the Coast’s media office told Syria Direct earlier this week.

For those fleeing the advance, the Syrian side of the Turkish border is as far as they can go. The border with Turkey in this area is no longer open, and anyone willing to cross must produce valid and current passports and identification.

Nearly six years into this war, documentation has expired, been destroyed or gotten lost. For young children, they were likely born with no birth certificates or any formal recognition that they exist. All of which begs the question posed by Abu Ahmed, who fled to the Turkish border from his home in Jabal al-Akrad after Russian airstrikes intensified and regime forces captured Salma. “Where do we go now?”

“Our children left school, there is no firewood or water, we are dying from the cold, and now we have become a target of the bombing since the regime is approaching,” said Abu Ahmad, who, along with his family slept in sewage pipes for the first two days after fleeing their mountain village.

“From the beginning, the regime has been taking revenge on civilians,” said Umr, the resident from Jabal Turkman now living in a north Latakia camp. [Continue reading…]