Regime attacks kill 5 in Syria’s de-escalation zones

By Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – Five civilians were killed in airstrikes carried out by regime forces in northern Syria’s de-escalation zones, according to sources with the White Helmets civil defense agency on Sunday.

The attacks targeted the city of Kafr Nabl and the villages of Kansafra Bidama, Josef, Kafr Battikh, Sufuhon, Ablin and Maraand in Idlib province.

Five people were killed, including three children, in the attacks in Josef village, the sources said.

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 Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.