The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

72 hours of violent escalation: four Russian soldiers and 125 regime soldiers, fighters and jihadies killed in military operations in Idlib and Aleppo, while nearly 1,800 strikes kill and injure over 140 civilians

In the recent 72 hours of the regime and Russian military operations flare-up within the “de-escalation” zone, the Syrian Observatory activists documented more than 1,796 air and ground strikes that targeted the southern, eastern and south-eastern countryside of Idlib and both western and southern countryside of Aleppo.

The air and ground strikes were distributed as follows:

  • Russian warplanes: 140 raids at least

  • Regime warplanes: over 105 raids

  • Regime helicopters: 51 barrel bombs

  • Regime ground forces: 1,500 rocket and artillery shells.

SOHR activists also documented during the same period, the killing of 28 civilians including eight children and the injury of 75 others.

The fatalities were:

  • 20 civilians including three children and a civil defense member were killed in a massacre committed by regime warplanes after targeting Idlib city

  • A man, his wife and their three children were killed in a massacre committed by Russian warplanes when they bombarded Bala village of Anjara area in western rural Aleppo

  • Two children were killed in Russian aerial bombardment on Uwayjil village west of Aleppo

  • One civilian was killed in air strikes by regime warplanes on Hass town in the southern countryside of Idlib.

Other nine civilians were killed including a woman and a child, while 30 others were injured in shelling by jihadi groups on neighborhoods in the regime-controlled city of Aleppo.

During the past three days, the regime forces launched several ground attacks under Russian supervision, on frontlines in the east of Saraqib and south of Maarrat Al-Nu’man city. These attacks led the regime forces to impose their control over Abu Juraif and Tal Khatrah villages before the factions and jihadi groups recover both villages in a counterattack. Furthermore, the factions managed to capture a third village in the area (Tal Musaytif).

The fierce battles and hysterical aerial and ground fire resulted in the killing of 58 regime soldiers and loyal militiamen, and 49 fighters including 37 jihadis.

SOHR also documented the killing of 18 other jihadis in aerial Russian bombardment and regime ground forces fire on the western countryside of Aleppo.

Meanwhile, four Russian soldiers were killed in an attack by jihadi groups, on a position from which the Russians run and supervise the military operations in the eastern countryside of Idlib.