Assad regime attack kills 8 civilians in Idlib

THE BASHAR Assad regime and its backers killed eight civilians and injured another five in renewed attacks on Syria’s northwestern Idlib province yesterday.

Firas Khalifa, head of media at the Idlib branch of the Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets), told Anadolu Agency (AA) that regime forces in the early hours of the day conducted attacks on Idlib’s al-Fua and Ablin villages.

The area has seen rising violence in recent weeks despite the truce brokered last year.

The truce was negotiated between Turkey and Russia, the Syrian regime’s main backer. At the time, it halted a crushing Russian-backed regime air and ground campaign aimed at retaking the region where nearly 4 million people, most of them displaced, live.

Almost a million people have fled the Assad regime’s offensive on the last opposition bastion since December 2019, with many seeking refuge in overcrowded tent camps near the Turkish border. Upon the Assad regime’s attack, Turkey launched Operation Spring Shield. After, the surge of violence decreased following a TurkeyRussia brokered cease-fire in the region, yet attacks continue frequently. Idlib recently faced another challenge as the last border crossing used for humanitarian aid risked being shut. Despite fears that Russia might block the renewal of the resolution for the crossing, the U.N. Security Council last week approved its use.

The war in Syria has killed nearly 500,000 people since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations.