2 civilians killed in regime, Russian raid in N.Syria

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – At least two civilians were killed and another six wounded in ongoing military attacks by Syrian regime and Russian forces on civilian residencies in the de-escalation zone in northern Syria, according to local civil defense sources.

The attacks on Tuesday were waged on several Syrian residential sites including three cities of Kafr Zita, Maarat Al-Numan and Khan Sheikhoun, as well as some 11 northern Syrian villages including Deir Sunbul and Al- Kinda, according to the same sources who spoke to Anadolu Agency anonymously due to security concerns.

On Monday at least 50 civilians were killed in air strikes by Russian and Syrian regime forces in the de-escalation zone in Idlib province.

Russian jets struck a marketplace in the city of Maarat Al-Numan in northern Idlib, killing 39 civilians, including a White Helmets volunteer, sources from the civil defense agency told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

Assad regime warplanes, meanwhile, struck a marketplace in Saraqib in rural Idlib, local sources in the field told Anadolu Agency. The regime airstrike left at least seven civilians dead and dozens of others wounded, they added, at the time.

The Russian Defense Ministry, however, denied that its forces had targeted any marketplace, saying Russian warplanes had not carried out any missions in the area.

Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which 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.

On 12 July, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said in a report that some 606 civilians had been killed in attacks by the regime forces and its allies on the de-escalation zone in Idlib since April 26.

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

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.