22 January 2019•Update: 23 January 2019
By Esref Musa and Burak Karacaoglu
IDLIB, Syria
Three civilians were killed on Tuesday in artillery attacks by the Syrian regime and Iranian-backed terrorist groups in Syria’s opposition-held Idlib province, according to local sources.
A civilian was killed as the towns of Kafr Zita, Latamnah and Morek -- all located inside Idlib’s de-escalation zone -- were targeted by regime artillery fire, Rami , director of the “White Helmets” civil-defense agency, said.
Omar Haj Obeida, Aleppo White Helmets director, told Anadolu Agency that two civilians, one of them a child, were killed and six wounded under intense artillery fire against Havir village in western Aleppo province, also inside Idlib's de-escalation zone.
According to Syrian Network for Human Rights report published last month, a total of 45 civilians were killed in regime's attacks in Idlib between Sept. 17 - Dec. 24 last year.
Following a Sept. 17 meeting in Sochi between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two sides agreed to establish a demilitarized zone -- in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited -- in Idlib.
Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib were allowed to remain in areas in which they were already present, while Russia and Turkey began carrying out joint patrols in the area to prevent any 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 severity.
