Activists said at least 13 people, including children, were killed in Russian airstrikes in Idlib province on Sunday, in northwest Syria, which is predominantly controlled by Islamist militias. “Nine civilians, including two children, were killed in airstrikes in the town (Jisr al-Shughur),” the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said.
The attack reportedly took place at a busy fruit and vegetable market. An AFP reporter saw smoke rising over Jisr al-Shughur after the attack and ambulances evacuating the wounded from the market. Another four people were killed in another attack in an Idlib suburb, according to OSDH. Among them was a jihadist fighter. At least 30 people were injured in the Russian attacks and the death toll is expected to rise.
Ahmed Yazigi, from the city’s civil defence, also spoke of several deaths and condemned the attack on a market “which is an important source of income for farmers”.
Survivor Saad Fato, 35, told AFP that he helped rescue the wounded. “Russian shells rained down on us” as he unloaded tomatoes and cucumbers, he said. “It was indescribable to see the dead and wounded.”
These are the deadliest airstrikes this year, according to the UK observatory, which has a network of activists in Syria. Sunday’s strikes were in retaliation for drone strikes in Kardah, Assad’s family’s hometown, and the government-controlled city of Salhab in the south-west of the country. The information provided by the organization can hardly be verified by an independent party.
About 500,000 people have died in the war in Syria so far, and about half the population has been displaced. With Russian and Iranian support, the government of ruler Bashar al-Assad has regained much of the territory it had lost since the outbreak of war in 2011.
In recent years, Russia has repeatedly launched attacks against armed opposition members in the northwest of the country. Two civilians were killed in a Russian airstrike in Idlib on Saturday.