Shelling exchange injures dozens in Aleppo, kills nine in Idlib

Shell fire wounded dozens of people in Syria's Aleppo, causing choking, regime media said on Saturday, and a war monitor said regime shelling killed nine people in the opposition and rebel-held Idlib.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the two women and seven children were killed in Jarjanaz village in Idlib province, where Russia and Turkey have agreed a buffer zone.

The UK-based Observatory also said shelling on Aleppo city, which in under regime control, wounded at least 32 people including six children, causing breathing difficulties.

Regime news agency SANA, citing a health official, said militants hit two districts of Aleppo with shells containing gases that caused 50 people to choke.

A witness outside al Razi hospital in Aleppo said the shelling caused dozens of injuries including among women and children.

Daesh counter-attacks 

Meanwhile, counter-attacks by Daesh have killed at least 47 US-backed militants over two days as Daesh militants struck from their embattled holdout in eastern Syria, the SOHR said on Saturday.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is largely made up of the YPG — the Syrian affiliate of the PKK terror group. But it still enjoys large huge US support.

The SOHR said Daesh launched "three separate assaults" on Saturday.

Thirty nine Daesh militants have been killed — some in the ground clashes, others in air strikes — over the same period, the Observatory said. 

Idlib region

The deal to create the demilitarised zone staved off an army offensive against the Idlib region, including nearby parts of Aleppo and Hama provinces.

Intermittent exchanges of fire have broken out in northwest Syria since the agreement between Russia, a key ally of Damascus, and Turkey.

The UN says nearly three million people live in the northwest region and has warned against a battle to restore regime rule there.

Among an array of factions controlling Idlib, the dominant force is Tahrir al Sham, an alliance led by militants formerly linked to Al Qaeda.

Earlier this month, Moscow accused militants of trying to wreck the deal, while rebels accused the Syrian regime army and its allies of attacking the region.