Government forces escalate shelling of NW Syria

IDLIB, Syria (North Press) – Syrian government forces continued on Wednesday military escalation on the countryside of Hama, Aleppo, and Idlib, northwest Syria, amid displacement waves from several villages in the countryside of Idlib.

A military source of the Syrian opposition told North Press that the government forces targeted the villages of al-Mozarah, Fatterah, Kansafra, and Maarbalit in Zawiya Mountain, south of Idlib.

More than 12 houses, most of them in al-Mozarah, were damaged, according to the source.

The shelling also targeted the villages and towns of Qahera, al-Enkawi, Hmemat, Duwayr al-Akrad, and al-Sirmaniyah in Ghab Plain, west of Hama Governorate, and al-Qasr, al-Wasata, and Kafr Amma, in the western countryside of Aleppo.

No casualties were recorded.

Amid this military escalation, local sources told North Press that the villages of Mantaf, Maarbalit, and Marzaf, east of Zawiya Mountain, have witnessed large displacement waves.

More than 50 families have left their houses a year after coming back to them, as they were previously displaced. Most of the families headed to IDP camps on the Syrian-Turkish border, north of Idlib, the sources added.

Although the de-escalation zone in northwest Syria is subject to a Russian-Turkish ceasefire agreement signed in March 2020, the area witnesses frequent mutual bombardment despite the entry of the ceasefire into force.

In March 2020, Russia and Turkey reached an agreement in Moscow that stipulated a ceasefire, the establishment of a safe corridor, and the conduct of joint patrols on the M4/Aleppo-Latakia Highway.

By Mo’ayed al-Sheikh