Explosions in Syria’s Idlib leave 15 dead, 30 injured

TWO blasts in the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib yesterday left at least 15 people dead and 30 others injured. The attacks came amid the efforts to preserve a cease-fire in Idlib, in line with the Sochi agreement reached by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

FIFTEEN people were killed in two separate explosions in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib yesterday while 30 others were injured.

Two bomb-laden vehicles were the cause of the explosions according to reports. While the first explosion did not cause major harm, the second one caused the death of a large number of people as well as other heavy damages. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombing as yet.

The Sochi agreement was reached on Sept. 17 by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. According to the agreement a cease-fire in the Idlib region will be preserved, with the withdrawal of heavy arms and radicals from the region. Prior to the agreement, the Assad regime was signaling a grand operation toward Idlib, which is the last stronghold of the opposition, sparking deep fears in the international community of a new humanitarian crisis.

Yet the regime and its supporters have violated the agreement. Since the Sochi agreement in September, more than two dozen civilians have lost their lives in attacks by the regime with many injured.

Speaking on the issue last week, Erdoğan said that it is important to make a distinction between the moderate opposition and terrorist organizations within the province, emphasizing the delicacy of the situation. “Our intelligence agency is also working on the issue,” Erdoğan said, adding that the Turkish military observation points in the region also have a key duty. “They will not give any chance to the terrorist organizations [to manipulate the situation in the region],” he said.