565 civilians killed in de-escalation zone since Sept

By Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – At least 565 civilians have been killed in attacks carried out by regime forces, Iran-backed terror groups and Russia in Idlib’s de-escalation zone in Syria since last September, according to a rights watchdog on Saturday.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said 163 minors and 105 women were among the victims in Idlib’s de-escalation zone since Sept. 17, 2018.

With the help of its supporters, the Assad regime violated the de-escalation zone agreement signed last September in the Russian city of Sochi, the watchdog said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be strictly prohibited.

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

*Writing by Can Erozden