IDLIB, Syria
Syrian regime forces backed by Russian warplanes on Tuesday besieged Idlib province’s Maarat al-Numan city and over a dozen villages in its outskirts.
Regime forces now control the villages of al-Hamidiyya, Bseideh, Kafar Basin, Babolin, al-Salihiya, Dar al-Salam, Deir al-Gharbi, Tekad, Sehyan, Maar Hattat, Babeela, Kahira, Maasaran, Dana and Kafar Roma.
In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited. But more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces in the de-escalation zone since then as the cease-fire
