4 civilians injured in regime shelling targeting Idlib city in northwest Syria

By Anadolu staff

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Four civilians were injured on Sunday in shelling by Syrian regime forces on the war-torn country's northeastern city of Idlib.

The regime and Iranian-backed foreign terrorist groups stationed in the city of Saraqib launched ground attacks targeting Idlib city center, an Anadolu correspondent reported.

The injured were immediately evacuated to nearby hospitals, according to a source in the White Helmets, a civil defense group, who spoke to Anadolu.

Türkiye, Russia, and Iran created four "de-escalation zones" in Syria in areas not under the control of the Syrian government at a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2017.

But the Bashar al-Assad regime, Iran-backed groups, and Russia continued attacks, seizing three out of four districts.

Although Türkiye reached an additional agreement with Russia to strengthen the cease-fire in September 2018, the attacks intensified again in May 2019.

After a new cease-fire deal for northwestern Syria was reached between Ankara and Moscow on March 5, 2020, the truce was largely preserved.

Between 2017 and 2020, 2 million civilians fleeing attacks were forced to migrate to areas near the Turkish border.