Over 6,000 civilians displaced in a week amid attacks on Idlib by Syrian army, its allies

By Ahmet Karaahmet and Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - The Syrian army, Iran-backed terrorist groups, and Russia carried out over 1,400 attacks in Syria’s Idlib and its surrounding areas over the past week, forcing more than 6,000 civilians to flee their homes.

According to the Syrian opposition aircraft observatory, the Syrian army and Iran-backed terrorist groups targeted villages in the south of Idlib at least 1,360 times using ground-to-ground weapons.

Simultaneously, Russian warplanes conducted 46 airstrikes in these regions, it added.

Al-Fatira, Kafr Aweed, Kansafra, Baynin, al-Bara and Balion villages in the south of Idlib and Kafr Tal and Sahara villages in the western countryside of Aleppo are among the most targeted settlements.

Mohammed Hallaj, the director of the Syria Emergency Response Coordinator, told Anadolu that five civilians were killed and 10 others injured in the attacks.

Hallaj emphasized that in the span of just one week, 6,382 civilians have been displaced from their homes, with a total of 22 civil service centers, including health facilities and schools, being targeted in the attacks.

As a result of the attacks, a wave of migration has occurred from the villages of Kansafra, Balion, al-Bara, and Kafr Aweed to the northern regions of Idlib.

In September 2018, Türkiye and Russia agreed 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.

Syria has been embroiled in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN estimates.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan