INFOGRAPHICS – Assad violates Sochi deal, causing civilian deaths

By Esref Musa and Burak Karacaoglu</p> <p>IDLIB, Syria (AA) – Syrian regime forces and Iran-backed terrorist groups violated the Sochi ceasefire agreement several times last month by striking opposition positions in Idlib’s de-escalation zone, reportedly leaving dozens of civilians dead. </p> <p>According to the White Helmets civil-defense agency, regime forces and Iran-backed terrorist groups last month attacked residential areas in the de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited. </p> <p>Last September in Russia’s resort city of Sochi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to establish the Idlib de-escalation zone. </p> <p>The following month saw all heavy weapons withdrawn from the de-escalation zone by Syrian opposition and anti-regime groups.</p> <p>Nevertheless, according to the White Helmets, at least 30 people in Idlib were killed in January, including women and children, while another 180 were injured — in Idlib, Hama and Latakia — by regime drone attacks and artillery fire.</p> <p>Last month also saw the regime target Idlib’s southeastern countryside, along with rural parts of the Aleppo, Latakia and Hama provinces. </p> <p>Mohamed Hallaj, director of the Coordinators of Interventions in Syria, an NGO, told Anadolu Agency that thousands of families had fled to areas near the Turkish border as a result of the ongoing violence. </p> <p>In November and December of last year, more than 16,000 families were forced to flee their homes in southeastern Idlib and northern Hama, Hallaj said.</p> <p>Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.