Syrian regime artillery fire Friday killed seven civilians in Idlib, in the highest death toll since a Russian-Turkish deal last month to prevent a regime assault on the province, a rescuing agency said.
Three children were among those killed in a village of the country's last major rebel bastion, according to the White Helmets.
Also on Friday, thousands of people came out to the streets of rebel-held areas to rally against the Assad regime.
Demonstrators held up the three-star flag of the Syrian revolution and placards recalling the first days of the Syrian revolution in 2011, saying their goal is the toppling of the Assad regime and stopping the Russian aggression.
More than half of Idlib province is controlled by Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist alliance led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, while Turkish-backed rebels hold much of the rest.
Idlib has been a haven for tens of thousands of rebels and 2.3mn civilians who were forced to abandon their homes in other parts of western Syria that the regime and its foreign military allies have recaptured from rebels.
Meanwhile, a four-way summit on Syria between Turkey, Russia, Germany and France will be held in Istanbul on Saturday.
The meeting, hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will see the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Staffan de Mistura, the UN special Syria envoy, will also attend the summit, which will follow a joint statement.
During the summit, the participants will address the Syrian conflict in all its aspects, focusing on the situation on the ground, the Idlib agreement, and the political process, and to harmonize joint efforts to find a lasting solution to the conflict.
The leaders will also discuss the Sept. 17 agreement between Ankara and Moscow to establish a demilitarized zone in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.
Under the deal, opposition groups in Idlib are to remain in areas where they are already present, while Russia and Turkey carry out joint patrols in the area with a view to preventing a resumption of fighting.
On Oct. 10, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced that the Syrian opposition and other anti-regime groups had completed the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the Idlib demilitarized zone.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
Zaman Al Wasl, Agencies
Zaman Al Wasl
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