Satellite photos show Syria regime firing fields in Idlib

New satellite images circulating on social media appear to show fields, orchards and olive groves burning in the northwest of Syria, where regime forces have waged an offensive against opposition groups in Idlib.

Reuters reported that the Syrian regime’s air strikes, backed by Russia, are focused on the south of Idlib province and areas near Hama. The assault has led to the displacement of 250,000 residents.

The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM) charity – a US-based non-governmental, medical and humanitarian organisation – has said that the bombing had left 229 civilians dead and 727 injured.

UOSSM, which operates in opposition territories, noted that the army’s bombings and air strikes on Tuesday had killed 24 people, including children, in villages located in the north-west of Syria.

READ: 3 million Syrians await an unknown fate in Idlib as Assad and his allies continue to bomb them

The photos, provided by satellite imagery provider DigitalGlobe Inc, showed plumes of dark smoke rising from the countryside surrounding the Al-Habeet village in Idlib and the small town of Kafr Nabouda in Hama.

The head of the Idlib civil defense, Mustafa Al-Haj Yousef, told Reuters that the regime warplanes were “pounding crop fields, sparking dozens of fires.”

On Tuesday, state news agency SANA said that “militants” had shelled villages in the northern countryside of Hama, damaging houses and burning wheat fields.

READ: Regime attacks kill 6 in Syria’s de-escalation zones