Assad forces step up aerial bombing on Idlib

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime warplanes conducted at least 20 airstrikes on the eastern countryside of Idlib province, killing and wounding dozen, local activists said on Monday.

Workers of Civil Defense said one child had been killed in regime airstrikes on the village of Sheikh Baraka. The rescuing group said they saved a woman and her two children were under rubble.

Rebel monitoring said most of the Syrian fighter jets that pound Idlib are operating in Hama military airport.

Activists launched a campaign on social media demanding the regime forces and key ally Russia to stop killing children in Idlib province as more than 107 children have been killed since May.

Since the "de-escalation zone" deal went into effect in May, hundreds of children have been killed and wounded in Idlib. But after almost five months of calm, fighters loyal to Bashar al-Assad have ramped up operations to reach Idlib, activist Ahmed Touma, member in the Local Council of Marrat al-Nu’man, told Zaman al-Wasl.

Last week, at least 25 civilians, including 11 children, were killed in Russian airstrikes on the towns of Mahershurin and Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib city.

The Assad troops are pushing north from a corner of the adjacent province of Hama, as well as from Aleppo province to Idlib's east.

They have seized around 40 towns and villages across the three provinces in recent weeks, according to AFP.

Idlib has been a haven for tens of thousands of rebels and civilians who were forced to abandon their homes in other parts of western Syria that the government and its foreign military allies have recaptured from rebels.

The steady advance comes as regime’s government marks the first anniversary of its victory in second city Aleppo.

Observers say the de-escalation deal, agreed in May, also helped regime forces to consolidate territorial gains.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syria's government held just 20 percent of the country at the beginning of 2017, but it now controls about 56 percent.