Sky News has gained exclusive access to the bombardment of Idlib - the last rebel outpost in Syria - and witnessed first-hand the relentless attack on civilians inside the province.

We saw how the ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey last year in Sochi - which declared a nine-mile demilitarised zone between rebel and regime lines - has been spectacularly breached.

Turkey's defence minister has accused the Syrian regime of violating that ceasefire.

Image: The crew was targeted by a tank

But the opposition has mounted several counter attacks to retake lost ground and pushed ahead with fresh assaults on regime and Russian positions in neighbouring Latakia.

Officials in Idlib say an estimated 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes over the past few weeks.


It is a dramatic escalation in the regime assault on Idlib province - the most densely-populated area of Syria - and we saw whole towns emptied of civilians as they've scrambled to get to safety in the face of an unceasing regime air assault.

The Sky News crew - clearly identified as journalists - was deliberately targeted and attacked by Syrian regime forces using military drones to pinpoint our location, before launching a series of strikes.

We were with two civilian political activists when our small group of five was tracked, targeted and fired upon by regime forces helped by Russian airpower as they bombarded Al Habit town in the countryside of Idlib.

Image: Sky producer Martin Vowles told the crew 'go, go, go' as shelling began

Al Habit is slap bang in the middle of the so-called buffer zone meant to be a battle-free area.

It's also just one of dozens of small towns and communities in the countryside of Idlib province which is now the focus of Bashar al Assad's forces as he fights to regain control of the whole of Syria.

More and more civilians are being corralled into an increasingly small area of Idlib.

More than three million are now inside Idlib Governorate, having fled other fighting areas such as Aleppo, swelling the population to more than double its usual size.

Image: Sky News was filming a burning vehicle when the shelling started

Officials in Idlib are now warning of an increased humanitarian disaster if the Syrian leader is not stopped.

The Assad regime forces appear to be specifically targeting civilian services and outlets such as hospitals, schools and markets.

The violence has spiked over the past few weeks with the regime insisting it is fighting terrorists.

The main rebel group now in control in Idlib is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a designated terror organisation by the UK and the US.

Bashar al Assad is focused on regaining control of the whole of the country - and Idlib and HTS are standing in his way.

But we saw large-scale indiscriminate bombing and shelling by the regime helped by Russian airpower on vast residential areas.

Image: Civilians have been forced to leave towns in Idlib province after numerous military assaults

And deliberate attacks on civilian populations with the intention of killing, maiming or just forcing them to flee is viewed as an international war crime.

The intentional targeting of journalists is also a breach of international standards.

One of the Sky crew had press markings on his flak jacket. The other was carrying a clearly marked green medical trauma pack.

I was wearing a black abaya (a long, full-length Muslim dress very common in Syria) to observe cultural sensitivities during the religious month of Ramadan and the two political activists with us were both wearing jeans and t-shirts.

The area we were in was deserted as all the civilians had fled.

We were spotted by a military drone and then repeatedly shot at with what we believe were 125mm shells probably fired from a T-72 Russian battle tank.

As we retreated to leave the area, the targeting of us continued.

Fighting has intensified in the province of Idlib, Syria's last rebel stronghold

Even when we withdrew to the nearby town, Khan Shaykhun, some 10km away, the shelling followed us there and continued.

They were all clear violations of the normal standards of operation in a battle zone.

We had just been filming a burning armoured vehicle in an area where there had clearly been fresh fighting when a bullet came in, hitting the metal on the vehicle.

We had suddenly become the new targets.

We all withdrew and ran for cover, trying to pick our way back through the broken and busted buildings all around us.

The military drone hovered above us and we could hear the sound of an aircraft homing in.

As we hid in a partial doorway to try to avoid running straight down an open road exposing ourselves, the first shell came in.

Image: The crew made a quick getaway to nearby town Khan Shakyun

It was so close and so loud, all we could hear for a few seconds was a deafening ringing.

There was a huge cloud of smoke which meant we were bathed in a dusty whiteout, unable to see for what seemed like several long lingering seconds.

Sky producer Martin Vowles screamed at us to move as we all stood slightly dazed.

"Go, go, go," he shouted, telling us to make use of the cloud cover to move out.

One of the political activists with us is Bilal Abdul Kareem, a controversial figure with a large Twitter following and social media presence.

He's a New Yorker who moved to Syria full-time three years ago and insists on telling the story from the rebels' point of view.

He often uploads scenes of rebel battles or regime attacks and is clearly sympathetic to the HTS cause.

He took shrapnel to his left side of chest and blood was seeping through his white t-shirt as we tried to reach our vehicle.

Image: Political activist Bilal Abdul Kareem was hit by shrapnel during the attack

Even as we were running away from the scene, another shell came in behind us.

We jumped in the car and skidded down the road, picking up a puncture as we crashed through the shrapnel all over the place.

Martin hurriedly patched up Bilal who was complaining of numbness in his arm by now.

It felt like an age before we reached nearby Kahn Shaykun, another ghost town.

We left quickly after Bilal jumped into another vehicle to head for hospital and we headed to try to find a garage for our rapidly deflating tyre.

Just 15 minutes after we left, another shell hit the town of Khan Shaykhun and it has been under bombardment ever since.

This is what civilians inside Idlib are having to endure on a daily basis right now.

We were lucky and we can escape Syria. There are more than three million civilians inside Idlib right now who can't.