“Putin-Erdogan” area in March 2022 | Sky-high prices and lack of essential goods deepen people’s suffering, amid ongoing airstrikes by Russian jets

The “de-escalation zone”, stretching from the north-eastern mountains of Latakia to the north-western suburbs of Aleppo city running through both Hama and Idlib, has been under an “alleged” and in-name-only ceasefire agreed upon after a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 5, 2020.

 

However, that region has experienced a noticeable escalation of military operations by Russian and regime forces and their loyal militias, including daily bombardment with tens of rockets and artillery shells and Russian airstrikes, which all have caused significant human losses and material damage. Meanwhile, Turkey, the “de-escalation” guarantor, seems satisfied with its “timid” bombardment of regime positions, which has not restrained this alarming military escalation which is mainly concentrated in the southern countryside of Idlib, as well as affecting east Idlib countryside, towns and villages of Sahl Al-Ghab in the north-western countryside of Hama, Latakia mountains and western Aleppo countryside.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has monitored and tracked all developments and violations against Syrian people in the “de-escalation zone” in March 2022, including the military escalation by Russian and regime forces, incidents and attacks, deteriorating security, instability and disastrous humanitarian situation. These key developments can be summarised in the following main points:

 

Russian jets continued their airstrikes on “Putin-Erdogan” area

 

In March, Russian fighter jets executed six airstrikes on “Putin-Erdogan” area. Further details of these airstrikes are as follows:

 

March 14: Russian fighter jets fired two air-to-air missiles that blew up in the airspace of Shinan and Bazabour towns which host a Turkish military post southern of Jabal Al-Arba’aen in the southern countryside of Idlib.

 

March 28: A Russian fighter jet loaded with several vacuum missiles executed four airstrikes on the outskirts of Maarat Al-Naasan town in the northern countryside of Idlib. No casualties were reported.

 

Meanwhile, operations by regime warplanes and helicopters in “Putin-Erdogan” area have been halted since the Turkish-Russian deal was reached in March 2020.

 

 

Hundreds of shells hit more than 35 positions

 

Beside the repeated Russian airstrikes on the “de-escalation zone”, regime ground attacks also continued in March. SOHR sources reported that more than 1,300 artillery shells and rockets were fired by the regime forces and their loyal factions on military and residential positions in areas under the control of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and the Jihadist groups and factions. The attacks targeted more than 35 positions in the rural areas of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama and Latakia.

 

Regime attacks are distributed regionally as follows:

 

• Aleppo: 400 shells hit the surroundings of Al-Atareb, and Al-Saharah towns, and Al-Sheikh Suleiman, Taqad, Tadeel, Kafr Taal, Al-Qasr, Kafr Nouran, and Kafr Amah villages.

 

• Idlib: 400 shells and rockets hit Al-Nayrab, Majdaliya, Al-Rouwayah, Mantaf, Maarzaf, Mariyan, Bayanin, Deir Sonbul, Shenan, Al-Barah, Kansfera, Fulayfil, Sfouhen, Al-Fatirah, Kafr Owid, Ain Larouz, and Maarat Al-Naasan.

 

• Hama: 350 shells and rockets hit Al-Ankawi, Kharbah Al-Naqous, Tal Waset, Al-Mansourah, Al-Mashik and Al-Sermanyah.

 

• Latakia countryside: 150 shells and rockets hit Telal Kabanah, Deir Al-Akrad and the frontline of Jabal Al-Turkman.

 

 

11 combatants killed in ground attacks

 

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) activists documented the death of nine regime soldiers and two members of rebel and Islamist factions and the injury of more than 14 fighters on both sides in shelling and exchange of fire on the frontlines of Putin-Erdogan area. Here are further details:

 

• March 19: Three regime soldiers were killed in infiltration by members of National Liberation Front on Al-Fatatrah frontline in Sahl Al-Ghab area, north-west of Hama.

 

• March 24: Hayyat Tahrir Al-Sham member was killed and other fighters were injured in a rocket attack by regime forces on the frontline of Taqad town in the western countryside of Aleppo.

 

• March 26: A member of the factions on Kafr Amah frontline was shot dead by a regime sniper stationed in the 46th Regiment in the western countryside of Aleppo.

 

• March 28: A regime soldier was shot dead by a sniper on the frontline of Al-Dar Al-Kabeerah in Jabal Al-Zawiyah, south of Idlib.

 

• March 31: Five regime soldiers were killed by snipers of Islamist and jihadist factions on the frontlines of “Putin-Erdogan” area; and they are:

 

-A lieutenant was killed in the countryside of Aleppo.

 

-A lieutenant and a conscript were killed in Idlib countryside.

 

-Two soldiers were killed on Kabbana frontline in Latakia countryside.

 

HTS arrests civilians, including an activist and his wife

 

As Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham relies on the success of security services in areas under its control and continues to arrest everybody opposing or criticising the policy of HTS and its leader “Al-Julani”, a security group of HTS arrested a young man on March 3 from his workplace in Binnish city. The young man, who had been displaced from Saraqeb city, was arrested for “publishing a post on his Facebook account criticising jihadist factions operating in Idlib,” according to sources.

 

HTS also arrested an aid worker from Al-Huwayz village in Sahl Al-Ghab in Hama countryside for unknown reasons.

 

Similarly, on March 3, HTS arrested a civilian at Bab Al-Hawa crossing between Idlib and Iskenderun region in the northern countryside of Idlib for unknown reasons. The civilian was on his way to Turkey with his sick daughter who was receiving treatment in a hospital in Turkey, where HTS arrested the man and asked his relatives to take the girl.

 

While in the first two weeks of March, HTS arrested a media activist, who also served as an aid worker, and his wife for unknown reasons. According to SOHR sources, the activist is from Kafr Sajnah town while his wife is from Binnish city in Idlib countryside, and they were arrested in Sarmada area on the Syria border with Iskenderun region.

 

 

HTS keeps oppressing displaced people

 

Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) sent notifications to displaced families inhabiting houses which had belonged to Christian civilians in the villages of Al-Qeniyah, Al-Ghassaniyah, Al-Ya’qoubiyah and Al-Jadidah near Jisr Al-Shughour city in west Idlib countryside, informing them to pay rental dues of six months in advance or to evacuate these houses. It is worth noting that hundreds of displaced families from several provinces inhabited in houses in these villages in return for low rental fees collected by HTS.

 

 

Incidents of security disorder leave more casualties

 

SOHR activists documented two incidents of security disorder in HTS-held areas in March, which left one person dead and another injured. The first incident took place on March 13, where unknown gunmen in a car opened fire on two civilians in Armanaz town in HTS-held areas in northern Idlib, killing one and injuring the other.

 

While on March 16, an IED exploded in Al-Thalatheen street in Idlib city, but no casualties were documented.

 

 

Attack on Turkish military vehicle and Turkey brings in more reinforcement

 

On March 16, a Turkish military convoy crossed into Syria through Ain Al-Bayda crossing west of Idlib. The convoy, which comprised 50 vehicles, including armoured vehicles, tanks, rocket launchers and heavy artillery pieces, took Aleppo-Latakia highway “M4” to posts on the highway as well as Ishtabraq post near Jisr al-Shoughour city.

 

While on march 27, Turkish forces transferred two soldiers and an officer, after having been injured in an attack with a guided missile on their armoured vehicle by regime forces, while they were travelling on the outskirts of Kafr Nuran town in the western countryside of Aleppo.

 

 

Disastrous humanitarian situation in refugee camps

 

Hundreds of tents in north-west Syria region were damaged due to spells of harsh weather, including windstorms, heavy rain and snowfall, which badly hit the region during March. Hundreds of families found themselves in the open after nearly 1,200 tents sustained total and partial damages. On March 3, several tents were blown away in Al-Shaikh Bahr, Kafr Yahmoul, Zardana, Harbanoush, Atma, Darkosh, Barisha, Adwan, Sahl Al-Roj, camps in north Aleppo countryside and camps in Salwa and Qah, where nearly 500 tents were destroyed with over 100 families displacing to other camps and living temporarily in public facilities.

 

A spell of harsh weather, including strong windstorm, heavy rain and snowfall struck some hills in north-west Syria on March 10 and lasted for 72 hours, destroying many tents in refugee camps in northern and western countryside of Idlib. The strong wind and rainfall, on March 10, resulted in total destruction of a three-story building in Binnish town in the northern countryside of Idlib. This building had come under attack in 2017. The heavy rain also resulted in rolling over of a large rock which hit a tent in Al-Beir camp in Sarmada area in the northern countryside of Idlib. In addition, a wall had collapsed in Jad’in village in Kafr Takhareem town in the northern countryside of Idlib, blocking  a road in the village.

 

Also, on Friday 11, areas in Jabal Al-Zawiyah in the southern countryside of Idlib, particularly mountain heights and Jabal Al-Akrad, witnessed snowfall which lasted for hours. Local sources informed SOHR that most of the camps affected by this harsh weather were located in towns in northern Idlib, such as Armanaz, Kafr Takharim and Salqin, as well as the areas of Al-Dana, Deir Hassan and Sarmada, where some tents sustained partial damage while others were totally destroyed. One of the camps which sustained considerable destruction due to the latest windstorm was “Kafatayn” camp in Jabal Al-Sammaq, near Kafr Takharim town in the northern countryside of Idlib, where nearly 25 tents out of 200 were damaged. It is worth noting that the camp hosts displaced people from Marraat Al-Nu’man area in the southern countryside of Idlib.

 

In late March, tens of tents in camps in the surrounding areas of Idlib city in areas controlled by Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham and opposition factions were damaged due to the heavy rain.

 

 

Acute shortage of food and basic products, amid prohibitively high prices

 

With beginning of Ramadan, the current inflation and rapid increase in prices, which have reached level unaffordable by the many, have made civilians shoulder extra burdens, let alone the indifference of relevant authorities and repression practiced against the people and their livelihood.

 

Meanwhile, markets experienced acute shortage of some basic products, including sugar, flour, oil and ghee, amid prohibitively high prices of alternative heating materials and petrol. According to the latest update of fuel prices set by “Watad” petroleum company, the price of petrol recorded 17 TL per litre at a time when the US dollar reached nearly 14.98 TL.

 

Furthermore, Observatory activists monitored a severe shortage of alternative heating materials on markets in Idlib city and countryside, along with a significant increase in the prices of some types.

 

Here are the prices of some alternative heating materials:

 

Pistachio shells: Nearly 4.4 TL per kilo (220 Turkish liras per a 50-kilogram bag).

 

• Hazelnut shells: 3.50 TL per kilo.

 

• Coal: 160 TL per bag.

 

• Pyrene: 180 TL per bag.

 

For years,  people in northern Syria have relied on various types of alternative heating materials, such as fire logs, pyrene, pistachios shells and coal, for heating because of the unaffordable prices of fuel.

 

As a human rights organisation, we, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), call upon all international powers concerned with Syria’s affairs and the international community to intervene immediately and put an end to the bloodshed in Syria, as well as applying international humanitarian laws and keeping civilians away from military operations and conflicts.

 

We also demand that Russia and Turkey, the “de-escalation” guarantors, comply with the ceasefire agreement and stop all violations, including intensive bombardment and airstrikes, which only affect civilians who seek a safe haven in the “de-escalation zone”, fleeing from the repression of the Syrian regime and its security services.