The Worst May Be Yet to Come in Syria

In the fall of 2016, Syrian troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russian airstrikes and Iran-backed militias, and ultimately captured the city of 200,000 people, leaving a trail of destruction and human suffering. In February of this year, , a region outside Damascus, and bombed it into submission, again leaving accounts of suffering in the area of 400,000 people. Meanwhile, the death toll continues to climb—the most widely cited estimate puts the lives lost at half a million, though there’s no way to know for sure; the UN stopped counting years ago. Yet Syria’s already horrific battles, and the human suffering they’ve caused, may pale compared to what comes next: Assad’s forces, backed by Russian airstrikes, are surrounding Idlib, in