(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 14 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed in deadly air strikes on the northern province of Idlib, Civil Defence agency said Tuesday.
The rescuing group said the death toll is expected to rise as regime helicopters dropped dozens of barrel bombs on the villages of Ma’asaran, Bdama and Ma'arshamarin in the eastern countryside.
One of White Helmets workers lost his life along with his wife and his three children in the air strikes.
The Syrian regime backed by Russian warplanes has intensified aerial bombardment in northern Idlib province in the past 72 hours.
In their turn, the armed opposition thwarted new incursion attempt by regime forces and pro-Iran militias in the eastern countryside, following a week of heavy losses in weapons and military personnel.
Pro-regime militias seek to advance in the eastern countryside but rebels were able to thwart several attacks, leaving dozens killed and wounded.
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.
Russia claims that rebels in Idlib battlefronts have killed 1500 Syrian troops and allied militants.
The Idlib region, home to around three million people including many displaced by Syria's eight-year civil war, is controlled by the country's former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham jihadist alliance also controls parts of neighboring Aleppo and Latakia provinces where battles with regime forces have also recently taken place.
The region is one of the last holdouts of opposition to forces of Bashar al-Assad.
A ceasefire announced by Russia in late August has reduced violence in the area.
The Observatory estimates that nearly 1,000 civilians were killed in that period, and the UN says that more than 400,000 people were displaced.
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.
Eight 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 neighboring countries. Zaman Al Wasl, Agencies
Zaman Al Wasl
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