MAARAT AL-NAASAN: Syrian regime shelling killed six civilians including women and children on Saturday in Idlib province, the country’s last main rebel bastion, a war monitor said.
A photographer at the scene reported seeing several bodies being taken away from a wrecked home in Maarat Al-Naasan, an area close to regime-controlled territory.
“The shell fell on a civilian home,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group with a network of sources on the ground in the war-torn country.
The monitor said two women and two children were among those killed, who were all from the same family. Many others were wounded.
The shelling had begun at around 1130 GMT, with more shells fired intermittently afterwards.
The Syrian regime and its ally Russia have regularly targeted hospitals and civilian areas since the start of the war in 2011, according to the observatory. The Idlib region bordering Turkey is home to about 3 million people and it is one of the last pockets to oppose Damascus.
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, controls with its allies about half of the region and parts of neighboring provinces.
After a months-long military campaign to flush out the enclave sparked fears of the war’s worst bloodshed yet, a ceasefire deal was reached in March 2020. The agreement brokered by the regime and the rebels’ main backers — Russia and Turkey respectively — has largely held since, despite sporadic flare-ups.
But Damascus has intensified attacks on southern Idlib since June.
The war in Syria has killed around half a million people and displaced millions more, the observatory says.
Two women, two children among six killed in Syria regime shelling on Idlib
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Two women, two children among six killed in Syria regime shelling on Idlib
- Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, a former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, controls with its allies about half of the region and parts of neighboring provinces
Child injured as Israeli settlers assault Palestinians
- Local authorities decry ongoing efforts to restrict Palestinian livelihoods and displace Bedouin communities
HEBRON: Israeli settlers assaulted a child and attempted to run over several others in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, on Sunday evening.
In Khirbet Rajoum Ali, settlers attacked 12-year-old Salah Ismail Al-Hadra, causing bruises and other injuries.
He was taken to Yatta Governmental Hospital.
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Israeli settlers also chased shepherds in Rajum Ulei, drove livestock into crops, and conducted provocative patrols near homes.
In Khirbet Al-Halawa, settlers chased children tending sheep, assaulted several, and tried to run them over with vehicles.
Masafer Yatta has seen a sharp rise in settler attacks, often under Israeli military protection.
Separately, settlers assaulted farmers plowing land in Khirbet Salama, Kharsa (south of Hebron), injuring locals identified as Ayman Izzat Awda and Diaa Awda.
In Jabal Al-Baba Bedouin community (Al-Eizariya, south of occupied Jerusalem), Israeli forces shot at shepherds grazing sheep in Wadi Al-Hawd.
One was wounded, and another arrested.
Authorities described it as part of ongoing efforts to restrict Palestinian livelihoods and displace Bedouin communities.
Settlers also attacked farmers in Mahfuriya (south of Aqraba, Nablus) while they worked their land, and damaged windows at the home of one person, identified as Munther Shreida, in Al-Shajra, Duma.
In Masafer Yatta, settlers in military-style uniforms detained and abused six residents near Khirbet Al-Fukhit before releasing them.
Settlers also chased shepherds in Rajum Ulei, drove livestock into crops, and conducted provocative patrols near homes.
Late on Saturday, settlers attempted to steal sheep from shepherd Imad Houshiyeh’s herd in Khirbet Al-Markaz but were stopped by local residents.
