Clashes continue near Damascus and in Raqqa

The Syrian governmental troops bombarded a large number of areas at Homos' Waar district besieged currently by the forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. The opened the fire on specific areas in the district using the heavy weapons, leading to the killing of two persons.

The number of the district's victims increased during the recent 14 days to hit 32 persons, including ten children under eight years old and three women. The Islamist combating factions targeted the governmental troops at Tel Rashu, Latikia's northern countryside. The attack led to material damages with no information about humanitarian losses.

Before hours of the attack, the governmental troops launched attack against the mountains of Kurds and Turkmen with no information about humanitarian losses.

In the same context, dozens of people left Sergaia area, heading to the northern area of the country to execute an agreement concluded betwenn the Syrian government and militias controlling the city to allow the fighters leave the city to Idlib. This process comes in the framework of rounds of forced displacement organized by the government in the surrounding areas of the Syrian capital Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) informed that sounds of explosions are still can be heard since the dawn of Monday, at al-Bab city and its outskirts, as a result of renewed Turkish heavy shelling with artillery shells, rockets and bombs, warplanes, targeting areas in the city which is the largest strongholds of the ISIS in the countryside of Aleppo. The Turkish attacks led to the killing of 11 persons.

This bombardment is accompanied by continuing voilent clashes between Turkish forces and Islamic factions working in the shield of the Euphrates forces , and ISIS from the other side, on the outskirts of al-Bab city, in a new attempt of the first to advance toward the city center, and shelling exchanged between the two parties, leaving casualties in the two sides.

SOHR documented since the start of the Turkish offensive on the 7th of February 2016, the death of 113 persons, including 34 children under the age of eighteen and 23  women, they were killed by shelling by the Turkish forces and raids carried out by Turkish warplanes on al-Bab city. 

This rise in the number of casualties since the start of attempts to control  al-Bab city, which is still mostly controlled by ISIS, have raised the number of persons who were killed to 433 civilians at least, including 93 children under the age of eighteen and 55 citizen woman over the age of eighteen in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, they were civilians who were killed by the Turkish bombardment on al-Bab city and its countryside and on the towns of Bzaah and Tedef since the 13th of November 2016, the date of the arrival of “Euphrates Shield” to the outskirts of al-Bab city until today the 17th of February 2017. 

The casualties include 342 civilians, including 83 children under the age of eighteen and 51 citizen woman, they were killed in shelling by the Turkish forces and Turkish warplanes on areas in al-Bab city and other areas in the towns of Tedef and Bzaah and other places in the countryside of al-Bab, since the first defeat for the Turkish forces in the 21st of December 2016 at the hands of ISIS organization.

Clashes took place after midnight between regime forces and rebels around Jesrin town in the eastern Ghout amid shelling on the area leading to the death of a rebel, reports of losses in both sides. 1 rebel was killed by clashes against regime forces which continue in Hosh al_Dawahira in al-Merej area.

The clashes also continued between the governmental troops and Islamist factions in the wrstern side of Aleppo in the framework of the governmental attempts to restore control on the areas seized by the factions. The Syrian government targeted the factions with mortar shells with no information about humanitarian losses.

The fighter jets bombarded villages in Hama's western countryside leading to material damages with no information about humanitarian losses, the clashes continue between ISIS militants and Syria's Democratic Forces in Raqqa's eastern countryside after the control of extremist militias on a new village in the area.

At least seven persons have been killed  during the massacre conducted by the Syrian air forces against the militants existed in the surrounding areas of Damascus