ALEPPO /Syria/, January 13. /TASS/. Illegal armed groups continue to shell the village of Zahra on the outskirts of the largest city in Syria - Allepo, which is part of the Idlib de-escalation zone, a representative of the Syrian Arab army told reporters.

From January 9, under the agreement with the Turkish side, hostilities and the use of combat air forces were stopped in this zone. Despite this, the militants did not stop shelling the positions of the armed forces of the Syrian Arab army and civilian settlements.

Since the end of December, the shelling has intensified and now the militants shell the area daily, the representative of the Syrian Arab army said.

Terrorists brought several rocket launchers from Idlib into that area, which means that at any moment not only mortars, but also multiple launch rocket systems can hit Zahra, the source said.

"The militants killed my husband. He died when they fired mines, a splinter hit him in the head. I have seven children left, and I am very afraid for them," a local resident of Varfa told reporters.

Zahra village has been under siege for six years, the militants have repeatedly tried to capture it. Before the war, it was considered as one of the uptown parts of Aleppo.

 

Syrian de-escalation zones

 

Four de-escalation zones were set up in Syria in May 2017 in accordance with a decision made by Russia, Iran and Turkey - the guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire. The four zones include the Idlib Province, certain parts of neighboring areas in the Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces, as well as some areas in the Daraa and Quneitra provinces in southern Syria. Damascus took control of three of the four zones in 2018, but the fourth one, which covers the Idlib province and certain parts of the Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces, is still controlled by terrorists from the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group (outlawed in Russia).