UPDATE - Regime shelling kills 2 civilians in Syria's Idlib

UPDATES DEATH TOLL; CHANGES TITLE, LEDE

By Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – At least two civilians were killed and four others injured when Syrian regime forces and Iran-backed militias shelled positions in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, the White Helmets civil-defense agency said Friday.

Assad forces and Iran-backed terror groups intensified their attacks in residential areas southeast of Idlib, Mustafa Haj Yusuf, head of the White Helmets in Idlib, told Anadolu Agency.

“The situation is generally very bad. At least 60 rocket attacks were carried out in Khan Sheikhun [a town in Idlib]. The attacks are ongoing,” Yusuf said, adding that at least two civilians had been killed and four others injured by the attacks.

Yusuf also said that residential areas in Hama province were being attacked by regime forces.

Regime attacks in Idlib’s de-escalation zone are estimated to have killed at least 100 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 the towns of Khan Sheikhun and Maaret al-Numan.

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

Located in northwestern Syria near the border, Idlib has 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.