At least 19 killed in airstrikes hit Syria's Idlib: SOHR

MENA

Published: 2017-12-20 13:58

Last Updated: 2024-03-26 16:40


Several airstrikes hit Idlib recently killing tens of people. (SOHR)
Several airstrikes hit Idlib recently killing tens of people. (SOHR)

At least 19 people were killed in airstrikes targeting a village in Syria’s rebel stronghold of Idlib overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

The airstrikes hit the town of Maar Shureen in the northwestern province of Idlib, and the deaths included seven children, while thirteen members of the same family were among the dead, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Idlib’s civil defense, a rescue service known as the White Helmets which is operating in rebel territory, also said fierce bombing after midnight killed 19 people, and left more than 25 injured.

SOHR said either Syrian or Russian aircrafts were responsible for targetting the village however both sides have repeatedly said they only target militants.

Airstrikes against opposition towns in the Hama countryside, near the southern part of Idlib, were stepped up by Assad’s regime forces and his allies.

After the Assad regime’s forces lost Idlib to insurgents who took over in 2015, it has become the only province fully under opposition control, and the most populated insurgent-held part of Syria.

However, Hayat Tahrir al Sham, an Islamist alliance directed by the former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, is the dominant rebel force in Idlib.

It raised fears among civilians and Free Syrian Army rebels that Idlib’s province could come under attack and turn into a major battlefield.

Other airstrikes have hit many Syrian cities in the last two days, including Eastern Ghouta, an area currently under blockade by the Assad’s regime, where tens of people having died of malnutrition.

Other airstrikes in Hamah, Dara’a and Khan Sheikhoun have also killed tens of civilians.

The conflict in Syria had killed more than 340,000 people since 2011, when people went to the streets in peaceful protests against strongman President Bashar Al Assad and his government regime.