IDLIB, Syria– A young girl was killed on Tuesday after a cluster bomb left behind by the former Syrian regime exploded in the village of al-Dabashiya, in eastern Idlib province, according to the Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets.
Local responders said the child was transported for treatment to the nearby town of Abu al-Zuhur but succumbed to her injuries shortly after.
The fatality comes just one day after five children were injured by a landmine blast in the nearby city of Maarat al-Numan. The children had been grazing sheep on farmland when the explosion occurred. They were treated at a White Helmets medical point before being transferred to a hospital in Idlib city.
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In a separate incident on Monday, eight members of a single family were killed or injured in a blast in western Daraa province in southern Syria. A local security source told +963 that the explosion was triggered by a 122 mm artillery shell remnant that detonated near a health centre in the town of Tseel.
The victims, aged 15 to 20, were reportedly transporting the shell on motorcycles when it exploded. At least four were killed, including Yazan al-Salamat, Mohammed Rashid al-Salamat, and Moatasem al-Salamat. Others, including Zaki and Mohammed Ziyad al-Salamat, were critically injured.
The ongoing presence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) remains a critical humanitarian threat across Syria. On April 5, the Syria Civil Defence reported identifying 832 areas contaminated with mines and other war remnants across its operational regions. Between April 2024 and April 2025, its teams neutralized 2,931 explosive devices and conducted over 2,300 removal missions.
In addition, the White Helmets said they had carried out more than 1,100 field surveys and delivered mine risk education to over 72,000 civilians during the same period.
