Children Among Casualties in Raids, Landmine Explosions in Northwestern Syria

Smoke rises from the Idlib countryside on Friday, November 12, 2021. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Smoke rises from the Idlib countryside on Friday, November 12, 2021. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Children Among Casualties in Raids, Landmine Explosions in Northwestern Syria

Smoke rises from the Idlib countryside on Friday, November 12, 2021. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Smoke rises from the Idlib countryside on Friday, November 12, 2021. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The death toll from fighting and the explosion of mines and IEDs in northwest Syria’s Idlib governorate increased on Friday to eight civilians, including children.

A child and a man were killed and another two were injured in a landmine explosion while picking olives in the vicinity of San town in east Idlib's countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

The war monitor has documented the death of 629 people, including 82 women and 226 children, by mines and IED explosions and the collapse of residential buildings in several areas in Homs, Hama, Deir Ezzor, Aleppo and the South since early January 2019.

Four children and a family of four had been killed in the past 24 hours, said Mohsen al-Ali, an activist in Idlib.

Ali said the family was displaced from the southern countryside of Aleppo following airstrikes by Russian warplanes on al-Habit area in the vicinity of Idlib city.

The area has four camps for the displaced from different areas of the southern countryside of Aleppo and Idlib countryside, Ali noted.

The airstrikes caused panic among the refugees, some of whom left their tents, fearing the jets would launch other airstrikes, he stressed.

On September 8, Russian warplanes launched six consecutive air raids on the same area, injuring seven children and burning tents for the displaced, along with artillery shelling by the regime forces stationed in the vicinity of the city of Saraqib, east of Idlib.

An official in Idlib, Ahmad Abdo, said the Russian airstrikes and attacks with artillery and missiles by regime forces and Iranian militias on the de-escalation zone since early July have resulted in the death of more than 213 civilians, including 61 children, 29 women, and five humanitarian workers.

Russian warplanes deliberately target areas hosting refugee camps to spread terror and fear among people, Abdo noted.



Erdogan Says Türkiye Ready to Help with Ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
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Erdogan Says Türkiye Ready to Help with Ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 19, 2024. (Reuters)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Türkiye was ready to help in any way possible to establish a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, and expressed satisfaction with the ceasefire agreement that has come into effect in Lebanon.

Türkiye, which has fiercely criticized Israel's offensives in Gaza and Lebanon, has previously said it discussed a potential truce in Gaza with Palestinian armed group Hamas and gave the group recommendations on how to proceed with the negotiations.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said the United States would again push for an elusive ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza "with Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others".

"We are stating that, as Türkiye, we are ready to provide any contribution for the massacre in Gaza to end and for a lasting ceasefire to be achieved," Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party in parliament.

Asked about Biden's remarks, a Turkish official told Reuters a ceasefire in Lebanon without a truce in Gaza was not enough to achieve regional stability, adding Ankara was ready to help reach a deal in Gaza, just as it had supported previous efforts.

"We are again ready to help achieve a permanent ceasefire and a lasting solution in Gaza," the official said.

While Ankara has repeatedly traded insults with Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war, it has not officially severed ties with it. Unlike Israel and its Western partners, Türkiye does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization and regularly hosts some of its senior members.