(Zaman Al Wasl)- Russia on Monday has stepped up its aerial campaign on rebel-held areas in Hama and Idlib provinces where Russia and Turkey agreed on a buffer zone in September, local reporter said.
At least 13 towns and villages came under aerial and ground bombardment by the regime and Russia amid fears of imminent offensive as regime forces moblize near the last rebel stronghold in northern Syria.
On Saturday, rebels thwarted an attack by regime forces and allied militias in the northern countryside of Hama
Jaish al-Ezza, key unit in Free Syrian Army, said its fighters clashed with the regime forces at the Zalaqiyat area, inflicting heavy losses on the regime army.
In Idlib, Russia's warplanes on Sunday carried out airstrikes on the town of Beksariya, killing two civilians and wounding nine more, mostly children,
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, former, a former affiliate of al-Qaeda in Syria, is now occupying 70 percent of Idlib, giving more pretexts to keep the Russian aerial bombing.
According to Lavrov, this is “one of the acute problems, because it is infinitely impossible to maintain this last major hotbed of terrorism in Syria.”
The deal to create the demilitarized zone, running along the contact line between rebels and regime territory, staved off an army offensive against Idlib.
Intermittent exchanges of fire have broken out in northwest Syria since the agreement between Russia, a key Bashar al-Assad's ally, and Turkey, which backs some rebel factions.
The United Nations says nearly 3 million people live in the northwest region and has warned against a battle to restore state rule there.
Since the revolution erupted in 2011, more than 560,000 people have been killed, and more than 6 million people have been displaced.
Zaman Al Wasl
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