August 13, 2018•Update: August 14, 2018
IDLIB, Syria
The death toll from an explosion in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province has risen to 67, according to the White Helmets civil defense agency.
Among the victims were 35 women and children, White Helmets official in Idlib, Mustafa Haj Youssef, said on Monday.
On Sunday, Haj said 32 people had been killed in the blast that took place in Sarmada district, where civilians displaced from the northern Homs province live.
According to Haj, some 50 people have
en injured in the explosion, which destroyed two buildings inhabited by displaced civilians.
It remains unclear what the cause of the explosion was.
Located in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border, Idlib was designated a “de-escalation zone” in May where acts of aggression are expressly forbidden.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in early when the Assad regime cracked down on protesters with unexpected ferocity.
UN officials estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict.
Reporting by Esref Musa and Burak Karacaoglu : Writing by Mahmoud Barakat
