Regime shelling kills civilian in Syria’s Idlib

By Ashraf Mousa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – At least one civilian was killed on Wednesday in artillery attacks by the Assad regime and Iran-backed militias in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, according to the White Helmets civil-defense agency.

“The regime and Iran-backed militias targeted rural parts of Idlib, including Kafr Zayta and Al-Lataminah, leading to civilian casualties,” the agency said in a statement, expressing fear that the death toll could mount further.

Parts of Hama province's rural countryside were also targeted, it added.

So far this year, the regime and its allies have allegedly been responsible for the death of at least 176 civilians -- and the injury of scores of others -- in continued air and ground attacks.

After a meeting last September between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, it was agreed 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 Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.