Regime attacks kill 13 in Syria’s de-escalation zones

By Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – At least 13 civilians were killed in attacks by regime forces and allied militias on de-escalation zones in northern Syria on Wednesday, according to sources with the White Helmets civil defense agency.

The sources said three people were killed in regime shelling of the village of Al-Bara in northwestern Syria.

Three more civilians were killed in attacks in the town of Habit and seven others in the village of Sarja in the southern countryside of Idlib, the sources added.

A large number of civilians were reportedly injured in the attacks.

According to the Syrian opposition, the attacks on Habit were carried out by a Russian warplane that took off from the Khmeimim airbase in Latakia.

Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be expressly prohibited.

The Syrian regime, however, has consistently broken the terms of the ceasefire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.

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