5 civilians killed in airstrike on Syria's Idlib

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Five civilians were killed and eight others injured in an airstrike carried out by Russian warplanes on the Idlib de-escalation zone on Thursday.

According to the opposition aircraft observatory, four Russian warplanes took off from the Hmeymim air base in Latakia and carried out a total of 16 attacks on the quarry in the village of Hafsarjah and the headquarters of the anti-regime military groups nearby.

Munir Mustafa, the deputy director of the Syrian Civil Defense, stated that five civilians lost their lives and at least eight others were injured in the attack.

“Civilian injuries were taken to the surrounding hospitals for treatment, while search and rescue efforts continue,” Mustafa added.

The Assad regime and Iran-backed terrorist groups on Thursday attacked the villages of Benin, Chnan, and Maklabis in the west of Idlib with ground-to-ground weapons.

In September 2018, Türkiye and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN estimates.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report