Regime shelling kills child, injures 3 in NW Syria

IDLIB, Syria

A Syrian child was killed and three others injured on Sunday in regime shelling of the northwestern Idlib province, according to local sources.

The artillery shelling targeted the town of Sarmin, southeast of Idlib, by regime forces stationed in the city of Saraqib, southwest of Idlib, sources with the White Helmets civil defense agency said.

The injured children were rushed to hospital for medical attention.

In September 2018, Türkiye and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.

The Syrian regime and its allies, however, have consistently broken the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the zone.

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

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million others displaced, according to UN estimates.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar