Russian airstrikes kill one civilian in Syria's Idlib

IDLIB, Syria

A civilian was killed in northwestern Idlib city of Syria following airstrikes conducted by Russian fighter jets on residential areas, the Syrian civil defense agency (White Helmets) said on Thursday.

The civil defense agency reported that a civilian in Kafarruma was killed due to airstrikes.

According to the Syrian opposition aircraft observatory, the Russian jets struck Kafranbel district, Kafarruma town, Kafr Sakin, Sarja and Marrat Hirma villages in the city, which was designated as a de-escalation zone following Turkey’s deal hammered with Russia late in 2018.

Additionally, the Bashar al-Assad regime struck Sheikh Mustafa, Maarhatat and Kabbina villages during the same day, targeting them both with war planes and ground units.

On Wednesday, the Assad regime and Russia launched airstrikes on civilian settlements of the de-escalation zone, killing eight civilians and wounding ten others.

With the latest aggressions of the regime and its ally Russia, the death toll in Idlib city has topped 20 in the past week.

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

Since then, more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces in the de-escalation zone.

Notably, about a million people have been forced to leave conflict-prone areas of the city and started taking shelter in safer areas in the northern part of the city that borders Turkey.

The Turkish government has followed an “open door” policy for Syrians since the eruption of the bloody war. There are over 3,6 million Syrians taking shelter in Turkey now, looking forward to returning home.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas