50 civilians killed in Syria’s Idlib since Jan. 12
13:48, 21/01/2020, TuesdayU: Update: 13:49, 21/01/2020, Tuesday
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Syrian regime and Russian airstrikes continue killing civilians in Idlib despite ceasefire
More than 31,000 forced to take shelter near Turkish borderline amid truce violations by regime, allies
Dozens of civilians have lost their lives in Syria’s Idlib and tens of thousands of others have been displaced since Jan. 12, as the regime forces and its allies continued to violate cease-fire.
According to data obtained from the country’s Response Coordination Group, the Assad regime has conducted 89 airstrikes while Russian jets hit the city for 232 times during this period.
The airstrikes have claimed lives of 50 civilians, including 13 children, three women and a civil defense employee.
Notably, Syrians weary of airstrikes were forced to flee their homes; some 31,500 people have migrated to zones cleared of terrorists by Turkey’s anti-terror operations in the region.
The airstrikes have so far targeted two schools, two civil defense centers and a gathering place.
Although the Russian Defense Ministry announced that a ceasefire went into effect as of Jan. 9, the regime and Iranian-backed terror groups maintained ground attacks on the opposition-held city.
On Jan. 10, Turkey announced that a new cease-fire in Idlib rocked by violence would start on Jan. 12.
- Violations of Sochi, Astana agreements
Located in northwestern Syria next to Turkey’s borderline, Idlib has been a fortress for opposition forces and anti-regime armed groups since eruption of the bloody civil war in 2011.
The city population has climbed to a whopping four million due to domestic migration in the city center amid intense attacks.
Turkey, Russia and Iran held meetings in Astana city of Kazakhstan in 2017 and announced that Idlib and neighboring cities, Eastern Ghouta region of capital Damascus and southern regions, namely Daraa and Quneitra cities, would be de-escalation zones.
However, the Assad regime and Iranian-backed terror groups launched attacks in violation of the agreements and, thanks to Russian air support, gained control of all these territories with the exception of Idlib city.
The aggression continued after Sept. 17, 2018 when Turkey and Russia held Sochi meetings in a bid to halt attacks.
Which, have caused at least 1.3 million civilians to migrate towards the Turkish borderline while some 1,600 civilians were killed in bombardments.
