Assad regime airdrops leaflets to threaten Syrians

By Esref Musa, Levent Tok and Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime on Sunday airdropped leaflets in Syrian province of Idlib, threatening the civilians in the region.

The leaflets, bearing the title "Choose your destiny" and a photo of a dead Syrian, were dropped from a helicopter onto Idlib's Sarmada, Ram Hamdan villages and a refugee camp in Kemmune village.

"Continuing holding a gun in your hand means you are taking side with dead people. If you want to live, put your guns down. Don't gamble on your life," the note read.

The note threatened the Syrians with death and said that it is their “last chance.”

"You have no other choice. You will either put your guns down or you will definitely die. Make use of this last chance, put your guns down and improve your situation," the note warned.

Located in northern Syria near the Turkish border, last May, Idlib was declared a "de-escalation zone" in which acts of aggression are expressly forbidden.

Syria has just begun to emerge from a devastating civil war that began in early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

UN officials say hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict.