UPDATE - Regime attacks kill 17 civilians in Idlib, Syria

UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL, CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE

By Omer Koparan, Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - At least 17 people were killed when Syrian regime attacks hit Idlib, northwestern Syria, a local civil defense group said on Tuesday.

The Assad regime forces carried out bomb attacks in the Idlib city center, and killed six people, including a student and two teachers, according to the White Helmets.

Separately, the attacks later in the day killed one in Binnish district and 10 others in the town of Ma'arrat Misrin.

At least 12 civilians were also injured in the attacks.

An Anadolu Agency image revealed an exploded cluster bomb inside one of the school gardens.

Since Moscow and Ankara reached a deal in September 2018 under which acts of aggression are supposed to be prohibited in Idlib, over 1,300 civilians have been killed in the de-escalation zone.

Following intense attacks, over a million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border.

Since the eruption of the bloody civil war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has taken in some 3.7 million fleeing Syrians, making Turkey the world’s top refugee-hosting country.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan and Davut Demircan