Russian airstrikes kill 5 civilians in Syria's Idlib

By Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Five civilians were killed in Russian airstrikes on residential areas of Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone, the Syrian civil defense agency, White Helmets, said on Friday.

Three were killed in Rami village and another two in Maarshimshan, according to the agency.

According to Syrian opposition's aircraft observatory, Russian warplanes have targeted the villages of Rami, Jibala and Maarshimshan since last night.

The villages fall within Idlib province's Kafr Nabl district which was designated as a part of the de-escalation zone in Turkey’s deal hammered with Russia late in 2018.

Since then, more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces in the de-escalation zone.

Notably, about a million people have been forced to leave conflict-prone areas of the city and started taking shelter in safer areas in the northern part of the city that borders Turkey.

The Turkish government has followed an "open door" policy for Syrians since the eruption of the bloody war.

There are over 3.6 million Syrians taking shelter in Turkey now, looking forward to returning home.

* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat