Syrian, Russian airstrikes kill 13 civilians in Idlib

By Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu, Esref Musa and Adham Kako

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Russian and Syrian regime forces carried out airstrikes in northwestern Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone, killing at least 13 civilians, a Syrian civil defense group announced Tuesday.

The White Helmets said 12 people were killed in the attacks targeted areas near Idlib’s city center and another was killed in the Idlib's village of Kafr Taal.

The Bashar al-Assad regime and its allies have continued intensified air and land attacks on civilian settlements in the de-escalation zone.

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

Since then, however, more than 1,800 civilians there have been killed in attacks by regime and Russian forces, who continue to violate the cease-fire.

Turkey announced on Jan. 10 that a new cease-fire in Idlib would start just after midnight on Jan. 12, but the regime and Iran-backed terrorist groups continued their attacks.

More than 1.5 million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border due to intense attacks over the past year.

Turkey remains the country with the most refugees in the world, hosting more than 3.7 million migrants since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.