Russian airstrikes hit Syria's rebel bastion for first time since ceasefire: Report

Russian jets carried out airstrikes in rebel strongholds of Syria for the first time on June 2 since the March ceasefire agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came into force, said a war monitoring group. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the Russian jets hit an area of the northwest where the boundaries of Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces meet.

According to the London-based monitoring group, Russia bombarded Kabana frontline in the north-eastern Latakia countryside and areas in Al-Fatira, Kansafra and Safohin in Jabal al-Zawiya were also targeted. In the early hours of June 3, they carried new round of attacks on the “de-escalation zone”, targeting the area between Al-Qarqur and the Power Plant area in Sahl Al-Ghab. While regime forces renewed rocket attacks in southern Idlib, no casualties have yet been reported.

In late February, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar claimed that Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike launched by Syrian regime forces and Ankara retaliated by “neutralising” 309 Syrian troops. Akar said that the attack on Turkish forces was launched despite the fact that Ankara had shared the coordinates of its troops with Kremlin. 

However, Erdogan visited Russia on March 5 to meet President Vladimir Putin and both parties reached an agreement on a ceasefire in Idlib. “At 00.01 tonight, as in, from midnight, the ceasefire will be put in place,” said Erdogan said after holding talks with Putin.

Read: George Floyd's Death: Syrian Artists Paint Memorial On Remainder Of A Destroyed Wall

Vulnerable of coronavirus

Syria is now facing the threat of coronavirus which can overwhelm the healthcare system of the war-torn region. The United Nations special envoy for Syria has called for talks between the United States and Russia to cease the nine-year-long civil war. Geir Pedersen said on May 18 that the countries have a “key role” in leading the way that would mark an end to the crisis in Syria as both Moscow and Washington currently support the conflicting sides of the war.

Read: China-US Tension Spills Over UNSC Meeting On Cross Border Aid To Syria

(Representational Image: AP)