A week of military escalation in Idlib and Aleppo: nearly 3,900 air and ground strikes kill and injure 259 civilians, while bombardment and battles leave 220 regime and Russian troops, Jihadis and rebels dead

On Jan 22, 2020

Recent escalation of the regime and Russian military operations within the “de-escalation” zone stretched from the north-eastern mountains of Lattakia, to the north-western suburbs of Aleppo city passing through both Hama and Idlib, has completed its first week.

SOHR activists have monitored that the regime warplanes resumed their bombardment this morning after cessation of aerial operations for four days. Meanwhile, regime helicopters returned yesterday three days after suspending their aerial operations on the area.

During the recent week, from the morning of January 15 to January 22, Syrian Observatory activists documented more than 3,890 air and ground strikes targeting 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: 313 raids at least

Regime warplanes: over 129 raids

Regime helicopters: 68 barrel bombs

Regime ground forces: over 3,380 rockets and artillery shells.

SOHR activists also documented during the same period the killing of 77 civilians including 28 children as well as the injury of 182 others.

The fatalities were distributed as follows:

43 civilians including 23 children and seven women were killed in Russian bombardment of Bala, Kafrtaal, Kafr Jum, Al-Jinah, Uwayjil, Kafr Nouran, Jadraya, Arhab, Kafr Naha, the vicinity of Atarib in the western countryside of Aleppo, and Al-Barah south of Idlib

21 civilians including three children and one member of the civil defense, were killed in bombardment by regime jets on Idlib city and Hass town

13 civilians including two children and three females were killed due to shelling by jihadi groups on neighborhoods in the regime-controlled city of Aleppo.

On the other hand, the situation on the ground turned upside down after a meeting held few days ago between the Turkish intelligence with factions’ commanders at the Syrian border with Iskenderun. During the meeting, the Turks informed the factions that all recent political solutions failed and that the factions had to focus on the military aspect.

Turkey provided its loyal fighters with the American TOW missiles. It became notable that the latest attacks were initiated by the factions in which they recovered positions captured recently by the regime forces, in addition to inflicting large number of casualties among the regime soldiers and loyalists.

The fierce battles and hysterical aerial and ground fire resulted in the killing of 103 regime government troops, and 72 fighters including 56 jihadis.

For their part, the factions recovered Abu Juraif and Tal Khatrah villages which the regime controlled just after the ceasefire collapsed. Furthermore, the factions managed to capture Tal Musaytif village which came under the regime forces control before 18 months.

SOHR also documented the killing of 41 other jihadis in aerial Russian bombardment on the western countryside of Aleppo, and both eastern and south-eastern countryside of Idlib.

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.