IDLIB, Syria 

Assad regime attacked a marketplace in de-escalation zone in embattled Syrian province of Idlib, according to the Syrian civil defense agency White Helmets on Thursday.

At least seven people were killed and many others wounded during the artillery attack in al-Janudiya town, White Helmets added.

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

The Syrian regime, however, has consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.

The de-escalation zone is currently home to some four million civilians, including hundreds of thousands displaced in recent years by regime forces from throughout the war-weary country.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN officials.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev