Assad air strikes kill 13 civilians in eastern Idlib

(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 13 civilians, including women and children, were killed in heavy air strikes carried out by the Syrian regime and key ally Russia on northern Idlib province, activists said Friday.

The air strikes struck eastern Idlib and its capital the Maaret al-Numan. 

The raids targeted Al-Ghadfa, Tal Al-Sheeh, Ma'sran, Deir Al-Sharqi, Ma'arshamarin, Al-Haraki, Jurjnaz, Al-Sarman and Abu Dafna, an array of villages located in the countryside of Maaret al-Numan.

 least 90 people have been killed and 12,000 have fled the town of Maaret al-Numan in southern Idlib province after heavy bombing over the last week, local activists said. They fear the bombing campaign, which has included air strikes, barrel bombs and shelling, could be preparations for a ground offensive, according to the Guardian.

The long offensive has been marked by a willingness to violate international law by targeting civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, before the intensive bombing of the last week that hit busy markets and an olive oil processing plant, making it harder for families to buy food.

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