Palestinian Refugees Distressed as Russian, Syrian Airstrikes Continue to Take Away Civilians’ Lives North of Syria

Palestinian Refugees Distressed as Russian, Syrian Airstrikes Continue to Take Away Civilians’ Lives North of Syria

A boy searches his belongings among wreckage of a house is seen after Russian forces carried out air strikes over at Kafr Taal village in Idlib, a de-escalation zone in northwestern Syria, on 20 January 2020. [Ibrahim Dervis - Anadolu Agency]

Displaced Palestinian families taking refuge in northern Syria have voiced deep concern over their children’s safety as Russian warplanes have carried out new airstrikes in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone Wednesday, leaving a number of civilians dead and others injured.

 Anadolu News Agency quoted a Syrian civil defense group as stating that Russia targeted Ma’arrat al-Numan district, Kafr Rumah town, Serce village as well as Atarib district of Aleppo.

While Russian jets were carrying out airstrikes, the Assad regime’s forces attacked villages in southern Idlib.

The White Helmets civil defense group announced that four civilians died due to the airstrikes and one was killed by the regime’s artillery fire.

The groups said search and rescue operations are continuing in the region and feared the death toll could rise.

On Tuesday, Russian warplanes conducted airstrikes in the de-escalation zone, killing at least 26 civilians.

Turkey has pushed hard for a cease-fire in Idlib after the region endured months of battering by forces loyal to the Bashar al-Assad regime and its allies, sending 1 million civilian refugees fleeing toward the Turkish border.

Turkey and Russia agreed in September 2018 to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

Since then, more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces as the cease-fire continued to be violated.

Sometime earlier, the Syria Response Coordination Group said as many as 50 civilians, including 13 children, three women, and a civil defense official, have been killed in Syria’s Idlib over the past ten days as a result of attacks by Syrian regime forces and their allies.

The report claimed that the Russian fighter jets carried out 232 airstrikes while the Syrian regime’s fighter jets carried out 89 airstrikes on the de- escalation zones in Idlib since 12 January when a ceasefire was announced in the area.

According to the report, the airstrikes targeted two schools, two civil defense centers and a shelter.

The attacks also displaced 31,500 people forcing them towards the border with Turkey.

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