According to medical sources; 10 civilians were killed and 40 others were wounded on Wednesday as a result of artillery shelling launched by the Syrian regime and armed groups affiliated with Iran on the city of Ariha in Idlib countryside, located within de-escalation zone, north of Syria.
The sources added that seven of the wounded are in critical condition, which is likely to increase the death toll.
The indiscriminate artillery shelling on the city of Jericho -the main market and schools area, which spread panic among residents as students were going to their schools.
This bombing takes place at the same time as the mobilization of the Syrian forces to the contact lines in the governorates of Aleppo and Idlib, amid state media talks about the starting of war in Idlib. This also coincides with the Turkish threat of military action in northern Syria targeting areas of Kurdish militants.
In May 2017, Turkey, Russia, and Iran announced that they had reached an agreement to establish a “de-escalation zone” in Idlib, as part of the Astana meetings on the Syrian issue, however, the Syrian regime forces and their supporters attack the area from time to time, despite the ceasefire agreement signed on March 5, 2020.
Syria’s civil war has been ongoing since March 18, 2011, when the regime of Bashar Al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
During the past years, the Syrian regime granted citizenship to a large number of members of groups affiliated with Iran, in return for their participation in the war it has waged against the opposition since 2011.
