Russian jets hit Syria’s rebel-held Idlib, at the very least 9 lifeless

AMMAN (Reuters) – Russian jets bombed camps close to Syria’s northwestern metropolis of Idlib on Sunday, killing at the very least 9 civilians in a flare-up of assaults on the final opposition-help bastion, witnesses and rescuers mentioned.

Conflict planes flying at excessive altitude, aided by Syrian military artillery, additionally dropped bombs on forests close to the makeshift camps west of Idlib, witnesses mentioned

No fast remark was obtainable from Russia or its allies within the Syrian military, which says it targets the hideouts of rebel teams and denies attacking civilians.

The opposition civil defence service mentioned three kids and a girl have been amongst these killed within the strikes on the crowded camps the place greater than 70 folks have been wounded and rushed to subject hospitals.

“There aren’t any army bases or warehouses or insurgent barracks right here. Solely civilians,” mentioned Seraj Ibrahim, a rescuer with the so-called Western-backed White Helmets, when reached by cellphone.

Greater than 4 million folks reside within the densely populated opposition-held northwest alongside the Turkish border. Most of them have been pushed there by successive Russian-led campaigns that regained territory seized by rebels.

Russian jets final month hit areas below the management of the jihadist Hyat Tahrir al Sham group after a bout of combating amongst rival insurgent forces within the northwest in renewed strikes that shattered a relative lull in raids since earlier this 12 months.

The area has been hit by sporadic shelling from Syrian military outposts towards frontlines. Rebels have shelled areas below their management.

A deal brokered almost three years in the past between Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s forces, and Turkey, which helps opposition teams, ended combating that had displaced greater than 1,000,000 folks inside just a few months.