2 civilians killed by Syrian regime attacks in Idlib
Smoke billows following a reported Russian airstrike in the south of the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib near the village of Rakya, on Oct. 24, 2019. (AFP Photo)


The regime attack in Syria killed two civilians and injured five others in the Idlib de-escalation zone on Friday.

The attacks carried out by the Bashar Assad regime targeted civilian settlements in Bidama district, Qafranbil town and several villages falling inside the de-escalation zone with cannons, rockets and mortars.

According to the Syrian civil defense agency White Helmets, the casualties were reported in Bidama in southwestern Idlib.

War planes — which belonged to Russia, according to Syrian opposition groups — also attacked five villages in Idlib and Latakia.

On Thursday, the Assad regime attacked a marketplace in the de-escalation zone in Idlib.

At least seven people were killed and 17 wounded during the artillery attack in al-Janudiya town.

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

The de-escalation zone is currently home to some 4 million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces from throughout the war-weary country.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to U.N. officials.