Airstrikes kill five in N. Syria’s de-escalation zones

By Levent Tok and Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Five civilians were killed Wednesday in airstrikes carried out by Russia and the Syrian regime in northern Syria’s de-escalation zones, according to a local source.

Warplanes targeted the town of Kansafra and three villages in Idlib province, leaving five civilians dead, the source said, speaking anonymously due to safety concerns.

Turkey and Russia agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be expressly prohibited.

The Syrian regime, however, has consistently broken the terms of the truce, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.

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.

* Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur