Some 100 civilians have been killed over the past week as Russia and the Assad regime step up aerial attacks on Idlib [11], the northern Syria province that remains outside regime control. White Helmets [11] rescuer workers on July 24 reported at least 10 fatalities in Tubish village, near the "ghost town" of Khan Sheikhoun [12] where the 2017 chemical attack took place. The search for victims under the rubble continues. Horrifying images of a five-year-old girl's desperate attempt to save her baby sister trapped under rubble following an air-strike in the town of Ariha has gone viral. The footage was shot by the independent Syrian media outlet SY24 [13], which reports that the girl, named Riham, later died of her own injuries—one of 31 killed in air-strikes on Ariha this week. (EA Worldview [9], Al Jazeera [14], BBC News [15])
Meanwhile, at a meeting in Ankara with US special envoy for Syria, James Jeffrey, Turkish officials again warned of an offensive against the Kurdish-controlled area in northeast Syria, known to the Kurds as Rojava. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Ankara has "no patience left" with Washington's perceived accommodation of the Syrian Kurds. At issue is the size of the "safe zone," as Ankara is now calling the military "buffer zone [16]" it seeks to create along the border in northern Syria. The US has agreed to a "safe zone" that would cut through the Rojava autonomous cantons of Kobani and Cezire. However, the two sides differ over the depth of the zone. Ankara wants a 40-kilometer (25-mile) belt while the US is supporting only 10 kilometers (six miles). Turkey is also demanding the complete departure of the Kurdish YPG [17] militia from the area, and full control by Ankara's forces. (EA Worldview [18])
