Assad regime violates Sochi agreement in Syria's Idlib

By Esref Musa and Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria

Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and Iranian-supported terror groups violated Sochi agreement by attacking civilians in Idlib de-escalation zone on Friday.

A total of seven civilians, three of them children, were killed by the artillery and rocket strikes by the regime and the terror groups targeting Raffa village in Idlib de-escalation zone in violation of the Sept. 17 Sochi agreement between Turkey and Russia, according to White Helmets civil defense agency.

Mustafa Haj Yusuf, the local head of the White Helmets in Idlib, told Anadolu Agency that 10 civilians were also injured in the attacks.

In the last 10 days, the regime forces had also carried out attacks on the opposition-held region.

After a Sept. 17 meeting in Sochi between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two sides agreed to set up a demilitarized zone -- in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited -- in Syria’s Idlib province.

According to the terms of the deal, opposition groups in Idlib will remain in areas in which they are already present, while Russia and Turkey will conduct joint patrols in the area with a view to preventing a resumption of fighting.

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