New raids of the Syrian regime and Russia have caused more civilian casualties in Idlib, northwestern Syria, while activists have reported that the Syrian armed opposition has sent reinforcements to the province to repel the attack by regime forces weeks ago.
Civil defense sources in Idlib said that raids on Maarat al-Numan in the southern countryside of the governorate resulted in the killing of one of its members and a child, and the injury of others. The shelling included other areas, including the town of Khan al-Sabil.
The sources added that his teams are working to evacuate the people from the city, which the Syrian regime forces - with the support of Russian aviation and foreign militias - managed to approach them recently after they took control of the town of Gergnaz and several villages, as part of a major military operation that included the southern and eastern Idlib countryside.
After being subjected to violent raids and the approaching of battles, tens of thousands of people were displaced towards the Syrian-Turkish border, leaving Ma`rat al-Numan almost empty.
The Organization of "response coordinators" operating in Syria had previously said that about 265,000 Syrians had been displaced from the de-escalation zone in the southern and eastern Idlib countryside since the beginning of last November.
Military reinforcements
Militarily, the "Sham" network quoted military sources as saying that several hundreds of Syrian opposition fighters arrived in the southern Idlib countryside from the northern countryside of Aleppo.
The Syrian Network indicated that during the past few days, batches of the Syrian National Army forces affiliated with the opposition started moving towards the towns of the southern and eastern countryside of Idlib to support the factions that clashed with the Syrian regime forces, including the National Liberation Front.
Simultaneously, the network reported that the armed opposition recently monitored military moves by the Syrian regime and Russia to open new fronts in opposition-held areas in the southern, western and northern countryside of Aleppo, as well as in the southern and eastern countryside of Idlib.
Critical moments
In the same context, the Syrian Civil Defense broadcast on its Facebook account a video clip showing the critical moments that the Syrian Civil Defense volunteers went through today, Monday, during their response to relief due to the bombing of the Russian warplanes in the vicinity of Sheikh Ahmed village in the southern countryside of Aleppo.
The scenes show that Civil Defense volunteers rescued civilians under the bombing of Russian warplanes in the area.