At least 10 civilians were killed and more than 30 were wounded, including children, today, Wednesday, as a result of artillery shelling by the Syrian regime forces on the city of Ariha in Idlib countryside, which is within the de-escalation zone in the north of the country.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Syria, Milad Fadl, said that the bombing targeted the center of the city of Jericho, causing destruction in the main market in the city.
Medical sources - from the Jericho City Hospital - expressed their fear of a high death toll due to the large number of wounded and the seriousness of their injuries.
The death toll of the massacre committed by the regime and Russia forces in the city of Jericho, south of Idlib, this morning, Wednesday, 20 October, has risen to 10, including 4 children and a woman, and the injury of 20 others, including critical cases.# White Helmets pic.twitter.com/A26QNFvoiH
— Syrian Civil Defense (@SyriaCivilDefe) October 20, 2021
In an initial reaction to the bombing, the armed Syrian opposition targeted positions of the Syrian regime forces in the southern and eastern Idlib countryside with missiles.
The Department of Moral Guidance of the Syrian National Army said - in a statement on Telegram - "In response to the massacres of Assad's gangs, artillery and missile units in our National Army target with missiles the locations of the criminal Assad's militia in the southern and eastern Idlib countryside."
According to sources in the Syrian opposition, the bombing came after news of the arrival of new military reinforcements for the government forces - consisting of dozens of buses carrying soldiers, tanks and missile launchers - to the Maarat al-Numan area and the fighting axes in Jabal al-Zawiya, south of Idlib, and Saraqib, east of Idlib on the "M" road. 4".
This comes in light of the escalation of government media regarding the start of a close battle in Idlib, coinciding with the Turkish threat of imminent military action in northern Syria targeting areas of Kurdish militants.
The bombing also coincides with the holding of the sixth round of meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee at the United Nations headquarters in the Swiss city of Geneva, within the framework of a political solution to the crisis that has spanned since 2011.
And in May 2017, Turkey, Russia and Iran announced that they had reached an agreement to establish a "de-escalation zone" in Idlib and the related countrysides of Aleppo, Latakia and Hama, as part of the Astana meetings related to the Syrian issue.
However, the Syrian regime forces and their supporters attack the area from time to time, despite the ceasefire agreement signed on March 5, 2020.