Regime attacks kill 10 in Syria’s de-escalation zones

By Esref Musa

ANKARA (AA) - At least ten civilians were killed when Assad regime forces attacked residential areas inside northern Syria’s de-escalation zones, local sources said Friday.

Overnight airstrikes and artillery barrages targeted the villages of Kansafra, Tirmala, Basala, Hass, Muartahrama, Iblin, Naquir, Baidar Shamsu, Abedita, Ihsem and Habit, all of which fall within Idlib’s rural countryside.

The villages of Kafr Nabbouda, Jib Sulaiman and Qleideen -- located on the outskirts of Hama -- also came under attack.

The latest spate of attacks come one day after similar regime assaults in the same region left at least five civilians dead.

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

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.