(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime backed by Russia and Iran has captured 35 villages in the past four days in the northwestern Idlib province, which has been designated a de-escalation zone.
Since the offensive began on Dec. 20, the regime and its allies have launched a military campaign mainly in the cities of Maarat Al-Numan and Saraqib as well as the surrounding rural areas.
Despite being a de-escalation zone, the regime and its allies on Monday night took control of nine more areas, including Jarjnaz, Khirbet Marata, Abu Dafna, al-Hadisa, Kafr Yasin, al-Salihiyah, Dar al-Salam, al-Falul, and Babulin, bringing the number to 35.
The unprecedented aerial campaign of the regime and Russia has killed 85 civilians in nine days and pushed more than 130,000 people to leave their homes towards the Turkish border.
Russia and China on Friday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended for a year cross-border aid deliveries to four million Syrians, many of them in Idlib.
The move raised fears that UN-funded assistance could stop entering opposition-held parts of Syria from January unless an alternative agreement is reached.
Meanwhile, ten people, including five children, were killed Tuesday in Russian air strikes on a school sheltering displaced civilians in the village of Jubass near the town of Saraqeb in southern Idlib province.
Regime forces are now less than four kilometres (two miles) from the strategic city of Maaret al-Numan, according to AFP.
The offensive has targeted hospitals, schools, mosques and houses to force civilians out of the cities and keep them away from their homes, according to Syria's Response Coordination Group.
On Tuesday, jihadist fighters and rebels managed to retake Talmanes and an adjacent village, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources across Syria.
Idlib is dominated by the country's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The region hosts some three million people including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.
The Damascus regime, which now controls 70 percent of Syria, has repeatedly vowed to take back the area.
Backed by Moscow, Damascus launched a blistering offensive against Idlib in April, killing around 1,000 civilians and displacing more than 400,000 people.
Despite a ceasefire announced in August, the bombardment has continued, killing hundreds of civilians and fighters.
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 neighbouring countries.
(Agencies, Zaman Al Wasl)
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