SURMAN, Syria: Two days of clashes between regime forces and armed groups in Syria’s last major opposition bastion have killed nearly 70 on both sides, a war monitoring group said Sunday.
The battles in the northwestern province of Idlib are the most violent there since a Russian-brokered cease-fire agreement went into effect in late August, said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On Sunday morning, clouds of smoke rose over the Maaret Al-Numan region as warplanes pounded militants and allied rebels in positions they had recently recaptured from regime forces, said an AFP correspondent.
Residents of affected villages fled north to escape the fighting, adding to the tens of thousands who have already flooded out of the province’s violence-plagued south since an escalation started earlier this year.
The Observatory on Sunday put the death toll from fighting at 69 combatants since battles started the previous day.
At least 36 regime forces were among those killed.
It said an attack led by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate on several regime positions had initially sparked the fighting.
Overnight, the Syrian army backed by Russian warplanes launched a counter-push to reclaim territory it had lost in the battles, according to the Britain-based war monitor.
Regime forces have since regained lost ground but violent clashes are ongoing, the war monitor and an AFP correspondent said.
The Idlib region, home to around three million people including many displaced by Syria’s eight-year civil war, is controlled by the country’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
The Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham jihadist alliance also controls parts of neighboring Aleppo and Latakia provinces where battles with regime forces have also recently taken place.
The region is one of the last holdouts of opposition to forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
A cease-fire announced by Russia in late August has reduced violence in the area.
Between the end of April and the end of August, Idlib was pounded ceaselessly by Syrian soldiers backed by Russian air power.
The Observatory estimates that nearly 1,000 civilians were killed in that period, and the UN says that more than 400,000 people were displaced.
The war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it erupted in 2011.
Nearly 70 dead in Syria regime clashes with Idlib militants
Nearly 70 dead in Syria regime clashes with Idlib militants
- On Sunday morning, clouds of smoke rose over the Maaret Al-Numan region as warplanes pounded militants
- At least 36 regime forces were among those killed
Israeli authorities force Palestinian family to self-demolish their houses
- Raed Dabash demolished the two dwellings that housed eight people
- Israel regularly denies building permits to Palestinians in Jerusalem, while illegally expanding Jewish settlements in the city and the occupied West Bank
LONDON: Israeli authorities forced a Palestinian resident of occupied East Jerusalem to demolish his home and that of his son in Sur Baher, citing building violations as the reason.
Raed Dabash demolished the two houses that housed eight people, totaling 90 square meters. The Dabash family built their homes in 2014 without obtaining a building permit from the Israeli authorities in the city.
Israeli authorities imposed high building fines exceeding 100,000 shekels (around $32,000) on two houses, part of a policy aimed at restricting residents in Jerusalem, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.
The Palestinian Authority’s affiliated governorate emphasized that the policy of forced self-demolition is a crime of coercion and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, the Wafa news agency reported.
Israel regularly denies building permits to Palestinians in Jerusalem, while illegally expanding Jewish settlements in the city and the occupied West Bank. The authorities often compel Palestinian residents in Jerusalem to demolish their own homes for allegedly lacking permits. Those who refuse face demolition of their homes by Israeli bulldozers and significant fines.
The Israeli government faces charges of war crimes and genocide in the Occupied Territories at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
