BEIRUT: Twelve civilians were killed on Tuesday during exchanges of fire in northwestern Syria, including six slain when militant rockets hit the city of Aleppo, a war monitor said.
Syria's second city Aleppo is under the control of President Bashar al-Assad's regime but it is located only a short distance from militant-held Idlib province.
The regime and its ally Russia have intensified attacks on Idlib and neighbouring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces despite a months-old buffer zone deal intended to shield it from any government offensive.
On Tuesday, six civilians were killed by "rocket attacks by militant groups" in a southern neighbourhood of Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.
State television confirmed six civilians had been killed in "terrorist" strikes, using the regime's terminology to refer to both militant and rebel fighters.
Since the regime recaptured it at the end of 2016, Aleppo has been sporadically targeted by militant or rebels, who still control territory west of the city.
On Tuesday, six civilians were also killed in regime aerial bombardments targeting insurgent areas of Idlib or northern neighbouring Hama province, the Observatory said.
Four of them were killed in the town of Jisr al-Shughur, said the Britain-based monitor.
The escalation has been the bloodiest since Russia and rebel-backer Turkey announced in September 2018 an agreement for a "demilitarised zone" in Idlib.
Under the agreement, the area's three million inhabitants are supposed to be protected by a buffer zone.
But between late April and May 9, bombardments in southern Idlib and northern Hama forced some 180,000 people to flee.
These displaced people have found refuge in areas further north, according to the United Nations.
In just over two weeks, 18 medical facilities have been forced to close in the area, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday.
The civil war in Syria has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions since it started with the brutal repression of anti-government protests in 2011.
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