August 10, 2018•Update: August 11, 2018
By Burak Karacaolu and Esref Musa
IDLIB, Syria
Airstrikes on opposition-held Idlib province in northwestern Syria killed 25 civilians, the Syrian Civil Defense said on Friday.
The strikes were carried out by forces loyal to the Bashar al-Assad regime and the Russian military, one of the long-standing supporters of the regime in the war-torn country, the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, told Anadolu Agency.
Anees Diab, spokesman of the Civil Defense in Khan Shaykhun, said at least 20 civilians were killed in Urum al Kubra, a rural area west of Aleppo, in airstrikes by Russian military jets.
Another five civilians were killed in Assad regime airstrikes on areas near Khan Shaykhun district and Tuh village.
The military jets also attacked the neighborhoods of Khan Shaykhun, al-Tamaniah and Sukayk, and Turkmen region in Latakiyah, said Diab.
Located in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border, Idlib was designated a “de-escalation zone” in May where acts of aggression are expressly forbidden.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on protesters with unexpected ferocity.
