UPDATE – Regime shelling kills 2 civilians in Syria's Idlib

UPDATES DEATH TOLL; CHANGES TITLE, LEDE</p> <p>By Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa</p> <p>IDLIB, Syria (AA) – At least two civilians were killed and four others injured when Syrian regime forces and Iran-backed militias shelled positions in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, the White Helmets civil-defense agency said Friday. </p> <p>Assad forces and Iran-backed terror groups intensified their attacks in residential areas southeast of Idlib, Mustafa Haj Yusuf, head of the White Helmets in Idlib, told Anadolu Agency. </p> <p>“The situation is generally very bad. At least 60 rocket attacks were carried out in Khan Sheikhun [a town in Idlib]. The attacks are ongoing,” Yusuf said, adding that at least two civilians had been killed and four others injured by the attacks. </p> <p>Yusuf also said that residential areas in Hama province were being attacked by regime forces. </p> <p>Regime attacks in Idlib’s de-escalation zone are estimated to have killed at least 100 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 the towns of Khan Sheikhun and Maaret al-Numan.</p> <p>Since February, nearly 6,900 families have migrated to safe areas near Turkey's border. </p> <p>Located in northwestern Syria near the border, Idlib has 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.