An attack by terrorist groups controlled by the Bashar Assad regime and its backers, despite a cease-fire in the region, killed one child in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province on Tuesday.

Regime forces in the town of Maarat al-Numan, in Idlib’s southeast, have violated the cease-fire by attacking the villages along the M4 highway.

While one child lost his life during the attack, another child was injured.

Almost a million people have fled the Assad regime’s offensive on Idlib since December 2019 with many seeking refuge in overcrowded tent camps near the Turkish border. A truce was brokered between Moscow and Ankara in March 2020 in response to the months of fighting by the Russia-backed regime, yet the regime still frequently carries out attacks on civilians, hindering the return of people to their homes and forcing them to stay in makeshift camps.

For years, the Assad regime has ignored the needs and safety of the Syrian people, only eyeing further gains of territory and crushing the opposition. With this aim, the regime has for years bombed civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and residential areas, causing the displacement of almost half of the country's population.

Although Turkish institutions, the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations continue their efforts to provide humanitarian aid, there are still thousands more who need urgent assistance from the international community.

Syria's war has killed more than 388,000 people and displaced millions of Syrians inside the country and abroad.

But today, Assad is back in control of more than 60% of the country after a string of Russia-backed victories against the opposition and terrorist elements.

Idlib, whose 2.9 million inhabitants have been protected by a cease-fire since March 2020, is one of the few key areas still holding out against the Damascus regime.

It was a protest hub in 2011 and it officially came under full opposition control some four years later.

A Russian-backed regime offensive in 2019 saw the Syrian regime retake more than half the province.