3 civilians killed in regime attacks in Syria’s Idlib

By Esref Musa and Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – Three civilians were killed early Monday in attacks by regime forces and Iran-backed terrorist groups on areas of Syria’s Idlib governorate, according to the White Helmets civil defense agency.

Mustafa Haj Yusuf, head of the White Helmets in Idlib, told Anadolu Agency the regime and its supporters directed intense artillery fire against areas of opposition-held Idlib, including the town of Khan Shaykhun and city of Saraqib, killing three civilians and injuring 14 others, including women and children.

On late Sunday, four civilians were killed in attacks by regime forces and Iran-backed terror groups on residential areas in Syria's northwestern Idlib late Sunday, according to the White Helmets civil defense agency. Regime forces also attacked a center of the White Helmets in Idlib, killing a civil defense worker.

A day earlier, a volunteer was killed when another White Helmets center was hit by a warplane belonging to Russia, according to the opposition.

Regime attacks in Idlib’s de-escalation zone are estimated to have killed at least 124 civilians and injured more than 362 others since the beginning of 2019.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a demilitarized zone after a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia's coastal city of Sochi.

Ankara and Moscow signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the stabilization of the situation in Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are prohibited.

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.