Regime raid kills 7 civilians in Syria’s Idlib

By Halit Suleyman

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – Seven civilians were killed in a regime airstrike Tuesday in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, a pro-opposition civil defense member said.

A regime warplane struck a residential area in Maarat Misrin city, causing heavy damage, Yahia Jawad told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

Twelve people were also injured in the raid, he said.

The fresh airstrike came despite a ceasefire deal brokered by Turkey and Russia that went into effect throughout war-torn Syria in late December.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-torn country, according to the UN, but the Syrian Center for Policy Research puts the death toll at more than 470,000.