(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime forces, backed by Russian air force and Iranian-backed militias, have stepped up its offensive on Idlib and Hama provinces, pushing to take major rebel stronghold in Syria.
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.
According to the Syria Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring organisation, at least 68 people have been killed since Thursday in the fighting.
Among them were at least 21 civilians.
Twelve people were killed on Thursday by airstrikes and artillery fire on Idlib.
According to the White Helmets, a Syrian civil defense agency, Russian and regime warplanes repeatedly struck residential areas of the province.
White Helmets chief Mustafa Yusuf said the attacks had left at least 12 people dead in Idlib’s Al-Lataminah and Babuline districts.
“Regime and Russian warplanes fired more than 150 rockets at various targets in Al-Lataminah,” Yusuf said.
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.
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.
Observers say the de-escalation deal, agreed in May, also helped regime forces to consolidate territorial gains.
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 120 children have been killed since May.
On Friday, Syrian cameraman working for pro-regime TV network Sama was killed Friday while covering clashes in Idlib, state news agency SANA reported.
The channel's Facebook page confirmed Karam Qabisho had died, but it gave no further details on the circumstances of his death.
In October, a journalist working for a pro-opposition television network was killed by shelling in Damascus province and another employed by state TV died when a landmine exploded in Homs province.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in March that 211 journalists and citizen journalists had been killed in six years of war in Syria, the world's most dangerous country for journalists in recent years.
Three civilians killed and dozen more wounded in regime’s artillery shelling on Hama, local reporter said on Friday.
On Tuesday, Tahrir al Sham, a fighting force dominated by members of Al Qaeda’s former branch in Syria, downed a military jet in Hama province, killing the pilot.
Aid workers and witnesses say dozens of civilians have been killed in towns and villages away from the front lines. (Zaman Al Wasl, Agencies)
Zaman Al Wasl
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