The Assad regime forces continued to shell the areas covered by the ‘de-escalation zone’ agreement in northern Syria, targeting several villages and towns with heavy artillery and rockets. The intensified shelling forced residents of many towns and villages to flee.
Local activists said that the intensified shelling on rural Idlib killed a civilian and injured many others in the town of Jarjanaz on Thursday. The artillery and rocket shelling also targeted the towns of Tamanah, Baboulin, Al-Khwain, and Umm Jalal in southern rural Idlib.
The shelling forced residents of these towns and villages to flee towards villages and towns located deeper in Idlib province amid dire humanitarian conditions and harsh weather conditions.
The Assad regime forces also carried out artillery and tank shelling on the towns and villages in northern and northwestern rural Hama, especially the towns of Morek, Latamina, Al-Arbaien, Al-Zakat, Al-Jisat, and Latmeen, without reports of casualties.
The Syrian Coalition earlier said that “the international community must not continue to turn a blind eye to the actions of the Assad regime which is ready to exploit any occasion and incident to carry on with its long litany of crimes and breach the ceasefire in the province.”
“It has become abundantly clear the Assad regime and its allied Iranian militia are keen on undermining the Idlib agreement and committing more massacres in search of justifications for disrupting the political process. This alliance and its backers will continue to manipulate the political solution whenever a chance arises.”
The Coalition said that the international community and active players that are interested in a political solution must be aware of this fact and act accordingly, especially with regard to the protection of civilians and stopping the war crimes by taking immediate action to enforce international resolutions on Syria, most importantly UN resolution 2254. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
