Idlib, Syria – Seven civilians were killed and 20 others injured on Sunday when President Bashar al-Assad’s military bombed the city of Idlib and rural towns near Aleppo.

Syria Civil Defense, a volunteer group that provides medical services and rescue and relief assistance to communities in opposition-controlled areas in the northwest of the country, They said they were responding to the deaths of five civilians, including a child and a woman pregnant with twins, in the town of Darat Izza. They also treated another five injured people, including two children, after more than 40 artillery shells hit the area.

Another 15 people, including five children and a woman, were injured in a rocket attack on residential areas in the city of Idlib.

Abu Amin, an observer who monitors the movement of missiles and military aircraft in the region, added that two more people were killed in the town of Abzimo, western Aleppo, by artillery fire using Acacia-152 launchers and Grad-40 rockets.

According to civil defense figures, there have been 48 attacks on civilians in 15 cities and towns so far this month, leaving nine people dead, including three children and a woman.

Syrian Civil Defense deputy director Mounir Mustafa told Al Jazeera that the bombing had caused a catastrophe State of “terrorism” among residents, in addition to the damage it caused to residential buildings, businesses and public facilities. The Syrian Civil Defense is also known as the White Helmets.

Fear and displacement

A grenade hit a few meters away from Mayoun Turki, a resident of the Shuhada camp in Darat Izza, and he was injured by a small piece of shrapnel.

“When it fell, I no longer noticed what was going on around me. I felt dizzy and my eyes still hurt,” the 60-year-old man told Al Jazeera.

While Darat Izza, which connects the northern and western outskirts of Aleppo and Idlib, is repeatedly bombed by the ruling regime’s forces, the latest bombing led to the displacement of civilians towards nearby farmland.

“My family has now fled towards the highway. I asked them to leave because of the small children,” said Turki, a father of 11 whose family has been displaced since 2011 when attacks on his village in eastern Hama country began.

“There was a lot of fear yesterday,” said Bashar Fandu, whose two cousins ​​were among the victims of the Darat Izza bombing. They were buying gasoline when the grenade fell on them, killing them along with the seller and two passers-by.

“Heavy shelling continued during the nighttime funeral,” he added.

Unprovoked bombing

The Syrian regime and its ally Russia deny attacks on civilians and announce that they are targeting military faction locations.

Abu Amin, the observer, said the recent attacks on Idlib city were “unprovoked” as they were not accompanied by military actions by opposition factions and the attacks were not directed at those factions’ positions.

“The bombings sometimes coincide with military actions by the opposition factions,” Abu Amin said, pointing out that the attack on the towns of western Aleppo last night was in response to the bombing of the towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa in Aleppo from Regime-controlled areas by the opposition factions.

Although a ceasefire has been in place in the region since March 2020, violations have continued, particularly in the last four months. Civil defense teams have counted 1,206 attacks by regime forces and its allies from early 2023 to December 10, killing 154 people and wounding 652.

“These attacks threaten the lives of residents, create a state of instability and force people to flee, at a time when the humanitarian crisis is worsening with the approaching winter,” said Civil Defense’s Mustafa.

Of the 4.5 million people living in northwest Syria, 2.9 million are displaced. Around two million of them live in arbitrary camps where basic services are lacking.

Edem Wosornu, director of operations and advocacy for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, spoke to the Security Council on November 28 about the threat of renewed bombing in northwest Syria, describing them as “the most significant we have seen since 2019.”

According to the United Nations, 120,000 people have been displaced from southern Idlib to the north in recent months due to repeated bombings.