Barrel bombs dropped by Syrian regime helicopters killed a child and wounded seven other people in northern Idleb province, the White Helmets said Sunday.
The attack hit a bakery in the town of Maarshourin, which lies within the de-escalation zone where acts of aggression are explicitly prohibited, the rescuing agency said.
Meanwhile, the armed opposition thwarted a new incursion attempt by regime forces and pro-Iran militias in the eastern countryside, following a week of heavy losses in weapons and military personnel, a rebel commander said Saturday.
Pro-regime militias are seeking to advance in the eastern countryside but rebels have been able to thwart several attacks, leaving dozens killed and wounded.
The regime army has been pressing to secure strategic territory located between Idleb and Lattakia province, cutting the main supply route and weakening the unprecedented resistance by rebels.
Russia claims that rebels on Idleb’s battlefronts have killed 1,500 Syrian troops and allied militants.
On Wednesday, rebels hit an outpost for the regime’s elite Tiger Force and Iranian militias near the town of al-Mshairfah east of Idleb city, killing 22 troops.
The Tiger Force are led by Brig. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan, a Russian-backed Syrian officer who has taken credit for some of the regime’s biggest victories in the almost nine-year conflict.
But he has not succeeded in breaking Idleb’s defenses, which remain deadlocked. According to opposition activists, elite forces from the Republican Guard and the Fourth Division led by Assad’s younger brother, Maher, have recently started taking part in the Idleb offensive, AP reported.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
