Syria: Regime, Russia attacks kill 2 civilians in Idlib

IDLIB, Syria

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime and its supporter Russia continued attacks on Idlib de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, on the eve of Muslim religious holiday Eid al-Adha, and killed two civilians on Saturday.

The land and air attacks targeted the residential areas in towns of Khan Sheikhoun, Tamaniyah and five more villages in Idlib and injured 11 others, according to the White Helmets civil defense group.

The White Helmets continue search and rescue efforts under the debris, the group added.

Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.

The de-escalation zone is currently inhabited by about 4 million civilians, including hundreds of thousands of people displaced by regime forces from their cities and towns throughout the war-weary country in recent years.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.

*Writing by Sena Guler