Syrian army, Iranian-backed groups attack Syria's Idlib

By Ahmet Karaahmet and Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - The Syrian army of the Bashar al-Assad regime and Iranian-backed terrorist groups on Tuesday launched multiple attacks on 14 areas in the Idlib de-escalation zone at Sahur, a pre-dawn eating time during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

According to local sources, regime forces launched multiple surface-to-surface attacks on civilian settlements at Sahur, targeting the town of Daret Izza in western Aleppo, Takad, Kafer Nuran, Irhab, Kafrantin, Qabasin, Sheikh Suleiman, al-Wasata, and the towns of Sarmin in Idlib, as well as Zerdene, Taftanaz, Taoum, Maratnasan, and Afes villages within the "Idlib De-escalation Zone."

So far, no word has been released on whether there were any casualties from the attack.

- Situation in Idlib

At the Astana meeting in Kazakhstan in 2017, Türkiye, Russia, and Iran agreed to create four "de-escalation zones" in areas not under Syrian regime control.

Damascus, Iranian-backed terrorists and Russia continued their offensive, seizing three of the four zones before turning to Idlib.

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

The cease-fire has been largely maintained following a new agreement between the two countries on March 5, 2020.

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

*Writing by Muhammed Yasin Gungor in Istanbul