29 killed by regime airstrikes over Idlib and Aleppo

ALEPPO, Syria

At least 29 civilians were killed and scores of others were injured on Tuesday in airstrikes launched by the Assad regime’s aircrafts over Idlib and Aleppo, according to a civil defense official.

Idlib’s civil defense official Mohammed Yahya told Anadolu Agency that the regime fighters hit Idlib’s residential areas of Ma'arrat Misrin and Ma'arrat Nassan which left 27 killed and scores injured.

He went on to note that the regime also launched airstrikes over a public market in Aleppo’s Atarib neighborhood where two civilians were killed and 15 others injured.

Since mid-November, more than 775 civilians have been killed and 2,500 others injured in regime attacks on the area, according to figures released by local civil defense officials.

The fierce bombardments have forced hospitals and other medical facilities in the war-battered city to cease operations while most academic activities have been completely halted.

The stepped-up attacks come within the context of attempts by the Russia-backed Assad regime and its allies to wrest control of eastern parts of the city, four years after they were captured by armed opposition groups.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.

*Reporting by Halit Suleyman; Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg