A Syrian rights group announced Monday that it documented the killing of 86 civilians, including children and women, in July.

In a statement, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said 21 children and eight women were among the victims.

Five of the victims were tortured to death, the nongovernmental organization (NGO) added.

According to the rights group, 18 civilians were killed in attacks by the Bashar Assad regime and its main backer Russia, while 57 victims lost their lives in attacks by other groups.

The NGO said 14 civilians, including six children, died in land mine explosions.

Most recently, seven civilians, including five children, were killed and 13 others injured when Russian airstrikes hit Christian-majority villages in the west of Syria's Idlib province.

According to the opposition aircraft observatory, the Russian warplane took off from the Hemeimeem air base in Latakia and hit the villages of al-Yacoubiyah and Judayda villages.

Officials from the White Helmets, or Syrian Civil Defense, said that according to initial reports, seven civilians, including five children, were killed and 13 others injured in the attack.

During the Astana meeting in 2017, Turkey, Russia and Iran agreed to create four "de-escalation zones" in the area that is not controlled by the Assad regime. However, the Syrian regime, Iran-backed terrorists and Russia continued their attacks and took over three of the four regions and headed for Idlib.

Although Turkey reached an additional agreement to strengthen the cease-fire with Russia in September 2018, the attacks intensified again in May 2019. The cease-fire, however, is largely preserved now after Turkey and Russia reached a new agreement on March 5, 2020.

Approximately 2 million civilians fleeing the attacks during the 2017-2020 period had to migrate to regions close to the Turkish border.

Moreover, despite the U.S. and Russian assurances, the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian branch, the YPG, still threatens safe zones in northern Syria near Turkey's border.

The terror group, which has its base in Aleppo's Tal Rifaat district, remains a threat to northern Syria's safe zones.

Besides that, for the past six years, YPG terrorists have occupied Tal Rifaat, which is located 18 kilometers (about 11 miles) from the Turkish border.

Since 2016, the YPG has killed hundreds of civilians, mainly by targeting hospitals, schools and crowded civilian settlements in its attacks.

Meanwhile, YPG terrorists often target Turkish forces providing security in the Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch zones and try to infiltrate the positions of Syrian opposition fighters from Tal Rifaat, despite the fact that the terror group was supposed to withdraw from the areas under agreements with the United States and Russia.

Terrorists also use heavy weapons in their attacks in the Tal Rifaat district and villages, including Shaykh Issa, Ayn Daqnah, Kafr Khasher, Taanah and Menagh.

YPG terrorism caused the displacement of approximately 250,000 civilians in Tal Rifaat in 2016, forcing them to seek refuge in areas close to the Turkish border.

The YPG controls large parts of northern Syria and is regarded by Washington as an important ally against Daesh despite its NATO ally Turkey's major security concerns and warnings.

Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful counterterrorism operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.