(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 5 people were killed and dozen more were wounded by improvised explosive devices (IED) in the northern province of Idlib, rescuing group said Tuesday.
The explosives targeted the hardline Tahrir al-Sham group but most of victims were civilians, the White Helmets reported.
Also, 12 children and two women were wound in regime airstrike on a school in Jisr al-Shughour town.
The UN says there has been an alarming rise in civilian casualties in Syria's last opposition-controlled province. It says 90 civilians, half of them children, were killed in March, according to al-Jazeera.
Idlib and adjoining areas of Hama and Aleppo provinces are largely under the control of jihadist groups including Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front.
The United Nations says Idlib and the adjacent areas are sheltering some 3 million people, half of whom have been uprooted from other parts of Syria by the war.
Russia and Turkey struck an agreement last September that staved off a major government offensive into Idlib and adjacent areas of Hama and Aleppo provinces through the creation of the demilitarised zone.
But jihadist groups that hold sway in the Idlib region have further tightened their grip in recent months, and Russia remains keen to help Assad take back the territory.
President Vladimir Putin, Assad’s most powerful ally, discussed Syria with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow on Monday and they agreed to conduct joint patrols in the area, where Turkey has also deployed forces in rebel-held areas.
Last week, Damascus said its ally Russia had started to feel that its patience was running out over the northwest. However, Moscow had told Damascus that Turkey was still determined to implement the agreement reached in September.
Turkish forces control a separate chunk of territory north of Aleppo where Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army rebels are based. (Zaman Al Wasl, Agencies)
Zaman Al Wasl
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.