Two days after Idlib attack, Syrian church bombardment kills two

In the central Syrian province of Hama, a church was being inaugurated when it was bombarded, resulting in two fatalities and 12 injuries, according to the official SANA news agency. In the village of Al-Suqaylabiyah, close to Hama, "A rocket fired by terrorist organisations targeted a religious gathering in the town of Al-Suqaylabiyah near Hama, killing two people and wounding 12," it was reported. According to SANA, the attack took place at the dedication of the Ayia Sofia church.

The strike was confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor with offices in Britain and a sizable network of sources on the ground. The Observatory reported one civilian fatality and multiple civilian injuries and said that adjacent rebel groups may have been responsible through artillery or a drone attack. Two days prior to the attack on Sunday, a bombardment in the rebel-held Idlib region claimed the lives of seven civilians, including four children. According to the Observatory, Russian airstrikes were to blame for Friday's fatalities in the Jisr al-Shughur area in northern Syria.

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Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the former branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria, currently controls over half of the province of Idlib as well as areas of the provinces of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia. With varying degrees of Turkish support, several rebel factions in the final stronghold of armed opposition to the Damascus regime are still operating. A ceasefire in Idlib and surrounding areas that Russia and Turkey mediated in March 2020 is still in effect despite irregular attacks from both sides, including Russian airstrikes. Nearly 500,000 people have died and nearly half of Syria's pre-war population has been driven from their homes as a result of the country's war, which started in 2011.

(with inputs from agencies)