Regime shelling kills 2 in Syria’s Idlib: White Helmets

By Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Two civilians in opposition-held Idlib were killed Thursday in an artillery attack by the Assad regime, according to the White Helmets civil-defense agency.

Mustafa Haj Yousuf, the head of the White Helmets in Idlib, told Anadolu Agency that regime forces and Iran-backed militias had recently stepped up their attacks in rural parts of Syria’s Idlib and Hama provinces.

“Regime forces and foreign militias shelled residential areas of Idlib, including Jisr al-Shughur and Khan Sheikhun, killing two civilians and injuring six others,” Haj Yousuf said.

Regime attacks in Idlib’s de-escalation zone are estimated to have killed at least 111 civilians -- and injured more than 300 others -- since Jan. 1.

The fresh wave of attacks in Idlib has reportedly led to a new refugee exodus from Khan Sheikhun and Maaret al-Numaan.

Since February, nearly 6,900 families have migrated to safe areas near Turkey's border.

Located in northwestern Syria, Idlib was designated a de-escalation zone -- in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited -- in May of last year.

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