Syrian Army Bombardment Claims Lives in Last Rebel Strongholdn a tragic turn of events, seven civilians lost their lives and six sustained injuries on Sunday as the Syrian army launched bombardments in the northwest, targeting the last major rebel stronghold. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported a massacre in Darat Izza, Aleppo province, where residential areas were directly hit by artillery shells and rocket launchers. The war monitor, relying on its network of sources, confirmed at least five civilian casualties in Darat Izza and two in the locality of Abzimou in the same province.
Earlier in the day, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (formerly Al Qaeda’s local branch) claimed the lives of five government soldiers in the north of Latakia province, according to the Observatory. The HTS attack was a response to the Syrian army’s bombardments on residential areas of Idlib city, which left 14 civilians wounded earlier on Sunday. HTS, designated as a terrorist organization by Damascus, the United States, and the European Union, controls significant portions of Idlib province and parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia.
The ongoing conflict in northwest Syria involves clashes between HTS and Syrian-allied Russian forces. While HTS is the primary rebel organization in the region, other groups, some supported by Turkey, have engaged in fierce clashes in recent weeks. Late November witnessed another tragic incident when Syrian government bombardments claimed the lives of nine civilians, including six children, who were harvesting olives in Idlib province, as reported by the Observatory.
The war in Syria, initiated in 2011 after the repression of anti-government protests, has resulted in over half a million deaths and displaced millions. Despite a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey in the Idlib region after a regime offensive in March 2020, repeated violations continue to escalate tensions in the area.
By AFP
