Published: 2017-11-15 10:15
Last Updated: 2024-04-27 03:16
The death toll of an air strike on a market in northern Syria has risen to 61, a war monitor said on Tuesday.
Jihadist rebels blamed Russian warplanes of carrying out the attack on the town of Atareb, which lies within a “de-escalation zone”, and said they would retaliate against Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s forces and his Russian and Iranian allies.
At least three air strikes hit the market on Monday, destroying one building and damaging several others, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
Eyewitnesses described shoppers crushed under the rubble or killed by the blasts.
The lack of response from the three architects of an agreement to ease the fighting in Syria has raised questions about their commitment to protect civilians caught in the conflict.
The town lies within one of the de-escalation zones guaranteed by Russia, Iran and Turkey who backed an agreement to freeze the lines of conflict.
Representatives of the three countries signed a document of principles in May which designated four zones of protection, designed in part to stop atrocities like Monday’s air strike.
There was no response from Turkey, which represents Syria’s rebels in the agreement and has military forces 16km north of Atareb, to the attack.