Idlib city remained under regime forces held for three years till 2015 when rebels have liberated it announcing the second province out of regime control.
In response for regime’s loss in Idlib, regime forces target the city with varied kinds of weapons not saving any one leaving widows, orphans and disabilities.
On the seventh of February this year at 3 am, the number of raids reached 5 raids to rise minutes later to ten raids targeting Idlib city and its outskirts carried out by the Russian and Syrian air force, where the number of martyrs reached 15 including children less than 12 years.
“it was in the early morning where it was almost the time for praying when the bombardment started on Idlib. We counted the raids reaching 10 when it directly hit us”, those were the words of Om Wesam who was speaking with a shake in her voice as tears filled her eyes; she took deep breath and added: “ all of us were sleeping in the same room ( my six children and I ) when the missile hit the house I heard my daughters screaming calling me out of fear”.
She proceeded: “for minutes I stood helplessly till the civil defense showed up to help us as we were in the fifth floor where they helped us to get down through ladders because the building was severely damaged. When it was my family’s turn, we gathered beside our daughter Salam who were thrown from the building but got hold with the iron of the building waiting for help.”
She continued narrating: “I felt it was ages till civil defense managed to rescue my daughter Salam, here I started to look for my other children. I was so dark, yet I searched as civil defense direct some lights. Then my eyes saw my daughter Sham.. those are her eyes.. this is her fragile body.. she buried under the rubble… my children!!!!. Here civil defense members told me to leave the place and take the rescued children. They found all my children but for my daughter Tasneem. I got down to the street with my four children. I entered my neighbor’s house in the other building and called my parents informing them that Sham got martyred and asking them to take us from the street as it is so cold”.
“My were crying unable to comprehend what has happened. Dust was covering us. I had a wound in my head, but I refused to go to the hospital; I was worried about my daughter, the sun rose up and I have not heard anything about her. Then they called me to see her body”, she said.
“ I open the bag of the first body.. it was my elder daughter Sham … my beloved Sham .. those are her eyes. She is laying on the ground dead. Then my saw the other bag. I asked them in terror ‘ is this my daughter Tasneem?’, they replied ‘ no, this is a body of another family.. Allah willing she is alright”, she proceeded.
Later Tasneem was found completely crushed under the rubble.
Om Wisam returned to her village with four children and two body bags. Those tow children got martyred calling ‘mom’. It is worthy to mention that in the previous year, she lost her husband in another Russian raid.
By Yara Tamer
Translated by Sabah Najem
Syrian Press Center
