Russian airstrikes kill 2 civilians in Syria's Idlib

IDLIB, Syria

Two civilians were killed in Russian airstrikes in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, according to an opposition aircraft observatory.

Russian warplanes struck the towns of Kafr Nabl and Kafar Roma and several villages in the province Tuesday night, leaving two civilians dead, the observatory said.

Regime warplanes, meanwhile, targeted Al-Rawda Woman and Child Hospital in Kafr Nabl, leaving the hospital unserviceable.

At least 100 civilians have been killed and 50,000 people displaced in attacks by regime forces, Russia and Iran-backed groups in Idlib since October, according to the Syria Intervention Coordinators.

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

The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the zone, killing at least 1,300 civilians since the agreement.

The de-escalation zone is currently home to some four 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 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 UN officials.

* Writing by Havva Kara Aydin