Syria regime fire kills seven in rebel bastion: monitor

Syrian regime artillery fire killed seven civilians including three children in the country's last major rebel bastion of Idlib, a Britain-based war monitor said yesterday.

The shelling hit in the village of Ehsim late Saturday, in the south of the Idlib region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A family member told AFP that visitors had gathered to congratulate a male relative on getting married when the shelling struck their home.

Earlier in the day, rockets fired by pro-government forces killed six civilians in the village of Sarja, including three children and a rescue worker, meaning at least 13 were killed in total in Idlib on Saturday.

The shelling in Ehsim came hours after President Bashar al-Assad took the oath of office for a fourth term, pledging to "liberate" areas still beyond government control.

The deaths are the latest violations of a ceasefire deal agreed by rebel backer Turkey and government ally Russia in March 2020 to stem a regime offensive on the jihadist-dominated stronghold.