At least 7 wounded in bomb attacks in N. Syria

At least seven people were wounded in separate car bomb attacks in northern Syria on Thursday. 

According to Anadolu Agency correspondent on the ground, the attacks targeted the district centers of al-Bab and Afrin, injuring five people.

The security forces suspect the attacks were carried out by the terror group YPG/PKK.

The terrorists also carried out mortar attacks on Inab village of Afrin. Two civilians sustained injuries due to attacks.

Located between Afrin and Azaz, Tel Rifaat has been occupied by the YPG/PKK since 2016.

Some 250,000 Arabs from Tel Rifaat have sought shelter in Azaz camps, bordering Turkey.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.

In northern Idlib province, opposition-run health directorate warned that medical facilities are at closure risk due  to lack of fund, calling on international organizations to intervene immediately.

At least 100 civilians have been killed and 50,000 people displaced in attacks by regime forces, Russia and Iran-backed groups in Idlib since October, according to the Syria Intervention Coordinators.

Also, 50,000 people from 10,000 families in Idlib, northwestern Syria were displaced in attacks by Russia, the Assad regime and Iran-backed groups in the last 25 days.

During this period, 90 people in Idlib, nine in Aleppo and one in Hama, were killed. The fatalities included 37 children.

Also, the opposition's Health Directorate said 44 hospitals and medical points in Idlib, Hama and Aleppo provinces were hit by the Assad regime and Russia.

The displaced people sought refuge in camps located in northern Syria, and olive groves in Idlib and areas that were cleared of terrorists by Turkey with Operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch in northern Syria.

Turkey and Russia agreed in September 2018 to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the zone.

 

Syria’s northwest corner, including the Idlib region, is the last major chunk of territory still in rebel hands after more than eight years of war.

The regime army has been pressing to take a strategic territory located between Idlib and Latakia province to cut the main supply route and to weaken the unprecedented resistance by rebels.

Bashar al-Assad, who now controls around 60 percent of the country, has vowed to reclaim the rest, including Idlib and small pockets in Latakia. 

Al-Assad forces launched a blistering military campaign against Idlib in April, killing around 1,000 civilians and displacing more than 400,000 people from their homes.

A ceasefire announced by Russia has largely held since late August, although dozens of civilians have been killed in sporadic bombardment since then.

Last month, Assad said Idlib was standing in the way of an end to the civil war that has ravaged his country through most of the current decade.

 

Almost nine years of war in Syria have killed 560,000 people and driven half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes, including more than 6 million as refugees to neighbouring countries. 

Zaman Al Wasl, Agencies