Syrian regime, allies step up Idlib offensive
The Syrian regime and its allies have intensified the air and ground campaign in Idlib province, creating a level of destruction reminiscent of the battle for Aleppo.
ALEPPO, Syria — The Syrian regime's airstrikes have hit a number of cities, towns and villages in the Idlib countryside over the past few days, causing a great deal of destruction to the local infrastructure and raising fears that the area will suffer the same fate as the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo.
A Jan. 30 air raid that targeted a market killed 15 people and wounded others in the town of Ariha. Regime helicopters dropped numerous barrel bombs on Tell Sultan, Salamin and Kanayes villages in the east, where no injuries were reported. Idlib's southeastern countryside is held by the Syrian armed opposition factions and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
The Syrian regime's shelling of Saraqeb killed five people and wounded others on Feb. 1. Idlib Media Center reported that members of the Civil Defense corps were wounded while treating the wounded. According to opposition activists, Russian aircraft hit the village of Jarjnaz in Idlib’s southern countryside Feb. 1 with bombs carrying napalm, but no casualties were reported.
On Jan. 29, the regime’s warplanes targeted the potato market in Saraqeb, in the Idlib eastern countryside, killing 14 people and wounding others. Five people — including a woman and four children — were killed in Maasaran village, east of Idlib, in the regime’s air raids on residential areas. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 175 civilians, mostly women and children, have been killed in 35 days of intensified regime actions in the area beginning Dec. 25, 2017.
