The armed rebels have blocked the free flow of food supplies to the residents of Idlib city in Northwestern Syria, reports said. The markets in Idlib city are empty, specially from vegetables and dairy products, while the available goods  are sold to people at much higher prices. Heavy clashes are currently underway between the Syrian army and the armed rebels in the outskirts of Idlib. The prices of basic commodities in Syria have risen in recent months due to the exacerbating insecurity in the country, specially after terrorist groups started attempts to prevent the free flow of goods, specially basic commodities, to the people residing in certain parts of the country. Baking flour is among the basic goods whose acute shortage had caused an aggravating situation in certain cities and the rebels have prevented its supply to bakeries to worsen the crisis. Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad. In October 2011, calm was almost restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies sought hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots to topple President Bashar al-Assad, who is well known in the world for his anti-Israeli stances.