Assad regime shelling kills civilians in Idlib

At least 13 civilians were killed Thursday in artillery attacks by the Assad regime and Iran-backed militias in Syria's northwestern Idlib province.

Regime and Iran-backed militias targeted rural parts of the districts of Kafranbel, Maraat al-Numaan, Saraqib, Hama's Kafz Zita and the village of Khan al-Sabil, according to the local sources.

At least 40 civilians were injured in the attacks.

The regime and its allies have allegedly been responsible for the deaths of at least 176 civilians and the injuries to scores of others in continued air and ground attacks this year.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agreed last September to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be strictly prohibited.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.