Regime shelling kills child in northern Syria

ALEPPO

A Syrian child was killed in regime artillery shelling on the opposition-held town of Al-Bab in northern Syria, according to local sources on Monday.

Clashes broke out between regime forces and fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) during a regime raid on the village of Tadef, the sources said.

According to the sources, regime forces and Iran-backed militias shelled the village of Dana, west of Al-Bab, killing a three-year-old child and injuring two people – a child and a woman.

Al-Bab was largely cleared of terrorist elements in 2016 as part of the Turkish military’s Operation Euphrates Shield.

Since 2016, Turkey has conducted two major military operations in northwestern Syria -- Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch -- with the aim of purging the region of terrorist groups.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.