By Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa </p> <p>IDLIB, Syria (AA) – Two civilians in opposition-held Idlib were killed Thursday in an artillery attack by the Assad regime, according to the White Helmets civil-defense agency.</p> <p>Mustafa Haj Yousuf, the head of the White Helmets in Idlib, told Anadolu Agency that regime forces and Iran-backed militias had recently stepped up their attacks in rural parts of Syria’s Idlib and Hama provinces. </p> <p>“Regime forces and foreign militias shelled residential areas of Idlib, including Jisr al-Shughur and Khan Sheikhun, killing two civilians and injuring six others,” Haj Yousuf said.</p> <p>Regime attacks in Idlib’s de-escalation zone are estimated to have killed at least 111 civilians — and injured more than 300 others — since Jan. 1. </p> <p>The fresh wave of attacks in Idlib has reportedly led to a new refugee exodus from Khan Sheikhun and Maaret al-Numaan.</p> <p>Since February, nearly 6,900 families have migrated to safe areas near Turkey's border. </p> <p>Located in northwestern Syria, Idlib was designated a de-escalation zone — in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited — in May of last year.</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.
