Assad regime targets food sources in Syria's Idlib

IDLIB, Syria

The Syrian regime forces have shelled farmlands during harvest season in opposition-held parts of Syria's Hama province, local sources said.

According to Anadolu Agency correspondents based in the area, regime forces on Saturday fired artillery shells on cultivated farmlands in several villages that fall within the de-escalation zone in Idlib.

The White Helmets, civil defense teams, are trying to extinguish the fire in agricultural lands destroyed by the shelling with the help of the local community.

The regime forces also plundered fish farms in various villages in the same region on Friday.

The attacks were intended to reduce this season's agricultural harvest and starve the civilian population.

At least 151 civilians have lost their lives in Idlib since April 25, with more than 405 civilians injured.

Some 1.5 million people currently reside in Idlib. Half of them are displaced from other parts of the war-torn country.

Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be expressly prohibited.

The regime, however, has consistently broken the terms of the ceasefire, launching frequent attacks inside the zone.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz