Amid renewed shelling ... Turkey and Russia agree on the date of the armistice in Idlib

The Turkish Ministry of Defense said today, Friday, that it has agreed with Russia to implement the ceasefire in the Idlib governorate, northwestern Syria, from midnight on Sunday, January 12. This comes at a time when the Syrian regime forces have bombarded towns in the governorate’s countryside.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense said that the attacks by air and land will stop under the ceasefire, which it said was aimed at preventing the flow of a new wave of displaced persons and causing more casualties.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled the shelling and battles in Idlib governorate towards the Turkish border in the past few weeks after the renewed campaign of Russian and Syrian regime forces.

In this context, the Al-Jazeera correspondent in Syria reported that the regime forces targeted with missile strikes and artillery cities and towns in the eastern countryside of Ma`rat al-Numan.

Al-Jazeera correspondent stated that another artillery bombardment by the regime forces also targeted the outskirts of the city of Maarat al-Numan, which resulted in material damage to civilian homes and property.

Dead and displaced
Yesterday, Thursday, the United Nations announced that 1,460 civilians, including 417 children and 289 women, were killed by military action in northwestern Syria between April 29, 2019 and January 5, 2020.

This came at a press conference held by the spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General Stephen Dougric at the headquarters of the international organization in New York.

Dougrik explained that more than 312,000 people, nearly 80% of them women and children, have been displaced since December 2019 until now, most of them from Idlib, heading north away from the fighting.

"The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN) remains deeply concerned about the safety and protection of more than three million civilians in the area around Idlib, more than half of whom are internally displaced, following continuing reports of air strikes and artillery strikes," he added.

In May 2017, Turkey, Russia and Iran announced that they had reached an agreement to reduce escalation in Idlib, within the framework of the Astana meetings on Syrian affairs.

However, the regime forces and their supporters continue to launch attacks in the region, despite another understanding signed between Turkey and Russia on September 17, 2018 in the Russian city of Sochi to consolidate the escalation of escalation.