Protests worldwide as death toll from regime assault on Syria’s Idlib province exceeds 400

The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported on Sunday that the number of casualties from a deadly Assad regime assault on opposition-held Idlib province has now exceeded 400.

In a report issued on Sunday, the SNHR said that 403 civilians had been killed and 1227 wounded since the beginning of the regime assault, which started on 26 April, despite a September 2018 agreement guaranteed by Russia and Turkey establishing a "de-escalation zone" in the area.

The SNHR added that 32 medical facilities, 64 schools, and 43 places of worship had been hit by the assault.

Syrian first responders said that 40 civilians, including 11 children were killed last week as a result of regime and Russian bombing. At least 300,000 people have been displaced as a result of the assault.

The Syrian Civil Defence said that the regime had used vacuum bombs and cluster bombs against civilian targets, burning homes and agricultural land and destroying crops.

On Monday, the situation in Idlib province was relatively calm, with warplanes absent from the sky for the first time in weeks, according to the Syrian news website, Enab Baladi. One person was killed in an airstrike on the town of Karsaa in southern Idlib province.

The Syrian regime news agency SANA also reported that 12 people were killed by rebel rocket fire in the regime held village of Wahidi in Aleppo province. Rebels in the province denied responsibility for the attack.

Over the weekend 18 cities across the world, including London, Dublin, Sarajevo, and Ankara witnessed actions in solidarity with Idlib province. Campaigners from the "We are the Love" group released balloons and called for an immediate end to the bombing of the province as well as the opening of humanitarian corridors.

Protesters in Ankara release balloons in solidarity with Idlib province

Nuha Noureddine, a Syrian living in the UK with family in Idlib province told The New Arab, "Yesterday, people in London showed a strong desire for the UK government to act. The UK can ask the international community to pressure the Russian air force to stop aerial bombardment of Idlib. The government should champion the cause to protect civilians in Idlib."

More than 500,000 civilians have been killed in the Syrian conflict, which started in 2011, mostly as a result of Assad regime bombardment of civilian areas.