The Bashar Assad regime shelled the northwestern Idlib region Thursday killing seven civilians, four of them children, in its third deadly bombardment of the opposition bastion in a week.

According to the Syria Civil Defense, or White Helmets, the regime and supporting terror groups conducted an attack on the Iblin village, south of Idlib, with ground-to-ground weapons.

The army has stepped up its bombing of the northwestern enclave since Saturday when Assad took the oath of office for a new term vowing to make "liberating those parts of the homeland that still need to be" one of his top priorities.

Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia in March 2020.

The Syrian regime, however, has consistently violated the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.

Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Over the past decade, around half a million people have been killed and more than 12 million had to flee their homes.

For years, the Assad regime has ignored the needs and safety of the Syrian people, only eyeing further territorial gains and crushing the opposition. The regime has bombed civilian facilities such as schools, hospitals and residential areas, displacing almost half the country's population.