Assad regime kills 20 civilians in Syria’s Idlib in a week

Syrians on a motorbike drive past the carcass of a charred car, hit in a reported bombardment by regime forces on the village of Iblin in the Jabal al-Zawiya region in opposition-held Idlib province, northwestern Syria, June 10, 2021. (AFP Photo)

by DAILY SABAH

Jun 14, 2021 12:00 pm

The Bashar Assad regime and its backers have caused the deaths of 20 civilians in the past week in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province while displacing hundreds of people due to artillery shelling.

The villages of Bara, Fattira, Iblin, Ihsim, Kafr Latah, Kafar Aweed, Deir Sunbul, al-Magarah, Mareian, Fleifel, Sufuhon, Sarja, Mantef and Ruwaiha plus Benin in the south of Idlib province were among the most targeted.

The Idlib media head of the White Helmets Syrian civil defense group, Firas Khalifa, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that in the past week, 20 civilians lost their lives in attacks conducted by the Assad regime while 36 were injured in violation of a cease-fire.

"Five were children and six were women of those who lost their lives," Khalifa said.

Furthermore, According to Mohammad Hallaj, director of Syria's Response Coordination Group, the attacks caused the displacement of 1,867 people in the region.

The most recent attack came on Monday when the regime attacked the opposition-held town of Maarat al-Numan, in southeast Idlib in which two children and a woman were injured.

Almost a million people have fled the Assad regime’s offensive on Idlib since December 2019 with many seeking refuge in overcrowded tent camps near the Turkish border. A truce was brokered between Moscow and Ankara in March 2020 in response to the months of fighting by the Russia-backed regime, yet the regime still frequently carries out attacks on civilians, hindering the return of people to their homes and forcing them to stay in makeshift camps.

For years, the Assad regime has ignored the needs and safety of the Syrian people, only eyeing further territorial gains and crushing the opposition. The regime has bombed civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and residential areas, displacing almost half the country's population.

Although Turkish institutions, the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations continue their efforts to provide humanitarian aid, there are still thousands more who need urgent assistance from the international community.