A guided missile attack by the Bashar Assad regime and its backer Russia has injured two children in Syria’s northwestern Idlib, the White Helmets civil defense group reported late Thursday.

The missile hit a car carrying civilians who work in olive-picking in the village of Marblit in the Idlib countryside, the group said.

The Idlib region bordering Turkey is home to about 3 million people and it is one of the last pockets to oppose Damascus.

For years, the Assad regime has ignored the needs and safety of the Syrian people, only eyeing further territorial gains 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.

The Idlib de-escalation zone was forged under an agreement between Türkiye and Russia. The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire agreements, which have been frequently violated by the Assad regime and its allies.

A fragile truce was brokered between Moscow and Ankara in March 2020 in response to months of fighting by the Russia-backed regime. Almost a million people have fled the Assad regime’s offensive yet the regime still frequently carries out attacks on civilians, hindering most from returning to their homes and forcing them to stay in makeshift camps.