The Assad regime forces carried out a deadly attack in the village of Benin in southern rural Idlib claiming the lives of 12 people, including three children, and wounding six others, including two children and a woman on Wednesday. The airstrikes targeted shops and the main street in the village.
Local activists said that other airstrikes targeted various parts of Idlib province, killing a child and two women and injuring 14 others, including five women and five children in the town of Kensafra in southern rural Idlib. The airstrike also caused extensive damage to civilian homes and property as well as public facilities.
The airstrikes also injured a man in the town of Maaret al-Nu’man and wounded a woman in the town of Saraqib as well as a man in the town of Maaret Hurma.
The Assad regime and Russian airstrikes and artillery shelling also hit the outskirts of the city of Idlib as well as the towns of Khan Sheikhoun, Sarqib, Ariha, Maaret al-Nu’man, Rakaya, Sajana, Habeet, Kafarsijnah, Heish, Sheikh Mustafa, Maaret Hurma, Ehsem, al-Bara, Benin, Bsanqoul, Deir Sunbul, Jabal al-Arbaeen, Masibeen, Basqla, Karsa’a, and Tarmla Tirmala.
The Assad regime and Russian forces have further intensified the bombing campaign in Idlib, rural Hama and northern rural Latakia, killing and wounding hundreds of civilians as well as forcing hundreds of thousands out of their homes and causing massive destruction to the infrastructure.
The United Nations warned of threats to the Middle East as a result of the continued military escalation by the Assad regime and Russia in the ‘de-escalation zone’ in northwestern Syria. This came at an emergency session of the UN Security Council held in New York at the request of a German-Belgian-Kuwaiti joint to discuss the situation in Idlib.
“The continuing fighting in Idlib has become a threat to regional stability,” UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the council members. “There must be a collective political will to reach a solution, especially since violence has not stopped despite repeated calls for calm,” DiCarlo said.
The Syrian Coalition earlier said that Russia bears primary responsibility for the military escalation in Idlib province. It stressed that Russia’s role has been “exposed” in giving orders to the Assad regime and the other terrorist militias to bomb civilian areas and the Turkish observation points.
The head of the Syrian Negotiations Commission, Nasr al-Hariri, said that Russia continues to support the Assad regime militarily and does not have any intention to engage in the political process. He pointed out that Iran continues to seek to consolidate its influence and maintain a foothold in the country.
Hariri said that the Assad regime and Russian forces are relentlessly bombing civilians in Idlib and rural Hama, mainly targeting children, women and the elderly. He said that the bombing campaign has caused a humanitarian disaster in northwestern Syria. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
