On August 13, 2018, three civilians were killed and dozens injured as a result of shelling with artillery shells and rocket launchers on three towns in the south countryside of Idlib, north of Syria. The shelling is violation of the de-escalation zone agreement signed between the Syrian opposition and the Syrian government under the auspices of the brokered states in Astana Talks[1].
Jaber al-Bakri, a local activist and director of al-Tamanah Media Center who resides in al-Tamanah in the south countryside of Idlib, said in an interview with STJ on August 13, 2018, that the Syrian regular forces stationed in the villages of Jadoeiya, Abu Dalia, Abu Omar, Washm al-Hawa, Atshan, and Ma'an, which lie in the conflict lines with the armed opposition factions, have targeted the towns of al-Tamanah, al-Tah, and Tahtaya with artillery shells and rocket launchers in addition to rockets loaded with cluster bombs killing two women and a child and injuring dozens of civilians, mostly women and children.
"The shelling started on Tahtaya that was targeted with 26 artillery shells followed by bombardment on al-Tah with rocket launchers loaded with cluster bombs causing victims in both villages. However, the shelling on al-Tamanah did not cause any casualties. Random areas were targeted during shelling the towns." Al-Bakri said.
Regarding the humanitarian situation, al-Bakri explained that the population in al-Tamanah was estimated 20,000, but people had displaced from it on sporadic times as a result of previous attacks.
In Tahtaya town, the population was 3,000, but 2000 people had also displaced on different stages. The displaced from both towns headed to different areas within the province and they reside there but return home only during the harvest times.
Concerning al-Tah town, the population is 13,000 to 15,000; they displace to the farms surrounding the town and after the end of the shelling, they come back again.
Brigade 52 affiliated with Free Idlib Army controls al-Tamanah, but Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya controls Tahtaya, whereas al-Tah is controlled by several military factions but none of them prevails over the other, al-Bakri said.
The shelling of the southern countryside of Idlib province is conjunction with the lack of ground movements of Syrian regular forces on contrary of the military opposition factions that bring reinforcements heavily and back up the conflict lines in addition to bringing other military equipment, he added..
Aerial bombardment had already affected the three towns in addition to Khan Sheikhoun city, and the bombardment killed ten civilians and injured 36 others on August 10, 2018; STJ had published a detailed report on the attack.
[1] The final statement of the sixth round of the Astana Talks that ended on September 15, 2017, provided to include Idlib province into de-escalation zone as well as the deployment of anti-escalation control forces. The period of the agreement, which is six months, is automatically renewed on the basis of the consensus of the guarantor states.