Syria regime targets area near Turkish observation post

IDLIB, Syria

The Assad regime on Friday shelled an area located near a Turkish observation post in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone, according to local sources.

A barrage of projectiles fell near Turkey’s 10th observation post in the Zawiya region northwest of Hama, local sources told Anadolu Agency.

The observation post, the sources said, did not sustain any damage.

It was the fourth such attack near the observation post, with similar attacks by the regime having been reported on April 29 and May 4 and 12.

In May of last year, the Turkish military erected 12 observation posts in the area after the ninth round of Astana-hosted peace talks.

As a guarantor state for Damascus, Moscow is responsible for preventing attacks by the Assad regime and Iran-backed militia groups, which have repeatedly violated last year’s Sochi agreement between Turkey and Russia.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat