Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Eighteen civilians were killed Saturday by Syrian strikes in the region of Idlib, according to the White Helmets civil defense agency.

The White Helmets tweeted that the Bashar al-Assad regime bombed the agency's building after attacking civilians with five airstrikes.

Advertisement After killing 18 people in #Idlib today, regime warplanes and helicopters bombed our center in #MaaratalNuman City and put it out of service, partial damage to the main building, in addition to complete destruction in the warehouse, without casualties among our volunteers. pic.twitter.com/ev774ZrVc9— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) January 11, 2020

According to a spokesperson for the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, seven people were killed in the city of Idlib, seven in Binish and four in the village of Nairab.

Dozens were also injured in the attack.

The strikes come just hours before a ceasefire announced by Turkey was to take effect. Russia's defense ministry also announced a ceasefire Thursday.

The two countries had agreed in September 2018 to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone, but the Syrian regime has broken terms of the ceasefire numerous times, killing at least 1,300 civilians since then.

The country has been engaged in a civil war since early 2011, when Assad's regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing 10 million others.

According to the Syrian Response Coordination Group, more than 200,000 people have been displaced from the country since November alone.