MESOPOTAMIA NEWS SYRIA DAILY: RUSSIA & REGIME CONTINUE INTENSE AIRSTRIKES ON IDLIB
By Scott Lucas – eaworldview . Russia and the Assad regime have continued their escalation of airstrikes and shelling on opposition-held Idlib Province in northwest Syria — possibly in preparation for a ground offensive, possibly in frustration that Turkey has blocked that offensive so far.
The regime’s helicopters used barrel bombs on a string of villages and on medical facilities, a primary target — as in previous pro-Assad offensives such as east Aleppo city in 2016 and East Ghouta near Damascus this past spring — for Russian and regime warplanes.A resident said that the village of al-Habeet alone was attacked by more than 15 helicopters, with at least two children killed and nine injured in strikes. Photos have been posted of slain infants.“We pulled children out of the rubble. Where is the world to speak out against these crimes?” Abullah Qasem said.At least another five people were killed in Qalat al-Madiq in northern Hama by artillery shelling, and Russia bombed Kafrzita and Latamineh, including the hospital in the latter town.Three hospitals, two White Helmets civil defense centres, and an ambulance system have now been damaged in recent days, according to the Union of Medical Care & Relief Organizations.
The exact moment #WhiteHelmets teams were targeted with cluster bombs & artillery shells while they were rescuing the wounded & extinguishing the fire following Russian raids on the outskirts of #Khan_Sheikhoun city. Two White Helmets in the video were badly injured. 7/9/2018
The exact moment of the Hass hospital bombing was caught on camera, confirming it was bombed from the air by a helicopter with a barrel bomb. More details on the bombing of the hospital here: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2018/09/09/battle-idlib-opens-bombing-medical-rescue-facilities/ …6:28 PM – Sep 9, 2018
Medical and rescue facilities in opposition held areas have frequently been the target of air strikes by pro-government forces, and what appears to be the open stages of the Battle for Idlib is no different. On September 6th 2018 the Syrian Civil Defence Twitter account posted images of what was described as a White Helmets…