The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

SOHR: At least 11 people have been killed in Syrian army shelling in Ariha in Idlib

Several schoolchildren are reportedly among the victims of shelling against the city in the rebel-held region of northwestern Syria.

At least 11 people have been killed in a shelling by the Syrian army on residential areas of the rebel-controlled city of Ariha in Idlib province, witnesses and rescuers said.

Wednesday’s shelling from Syrian army outposts, which came shortly after a roadside bomb killed at least 14 soldiers in Damascus, fell on residential areas in the city in Idlib.

The victims included several schoolchildren, witnesses and medical personnel in the opposition enclave, Reuters news agency said.

A UK-based group monitoring the war in Syria reported that at least eight people have been killed, including five civilians, two of them children.

At least 26 people were injured in the shelling, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Children walk past debris at shooting site in Syrian city of Ariha [Mohammed Al-Rifai/AFP]

A reporter from the AFP news agency on the scene saw at least five dead bodies as first responders treated the injured and scenes of chaos filled the streets.

The Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency said government forces and Iran-backed groups had attacked a marketplace in Ariha’s city center.

Wednesday’s bombing was one of the deadliest to rattle a ceasefire deal in Idlib reached in March 2020 and brokered by Turkey and Russia, the two main foreign brokers in the conflict.

The Idlib region is the last part of the country not to fall under government control, more than a decade into the war in Syria.

‘A retaliation’

Zeina Khodr of Al Jazeera, reporting from Beirut, the capital of neighboring Lebanon, said the bombing was interpreted by some as “retaliation” for Wednesday’s attack in Damascus.

“This is seen as a sort of retaliation on the part of the regime, even though this area (Idlib) has come under regular fire despite the ceasefire in effect since last year,” she said.

Joseph Daher, a professor at the European University Institute’s Wartime and Post-Conflict in Syria project, told Al Jazeera: “This is not the first time the government has failed to respect a ceasefire… The Syrian regime has made it very clear that it wants to take back all areas in Syria, and Idlib and this region have been bombed for months.”

Volunteers from the Violet Organization wrap a victim in a body bag in Ariha [Mohammed Al-Rifai/AFP]

 

 

 

SOURCE: Algulf