Children among 7 killed in suspected Russian strike in Syria

[ad_1]

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — A rights watch group said a Russian warplane hit a house in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border on Friday, killing seven civilians, including four children.

Syrian Civil Defense volunteers rushed to the house to remove the bodies from under the rubble.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and opposition outlet Orient TV say the airstrike in the town of Jisr al-Shoghour in Idlib was carried out by a Russian warplane following four other airstrikes Russians in a town further north.

The sources of the airstrikes on Idlib could not be independently verified.

Syria’s northwestern region is home to the country’s last rebel enclave. Idlib province is under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an al-Qaeda-linked group, while northern Aleppo province is under the control of Turkish-backed rebel groups.

More than 90% of the population of this region lives in extreme poverty and depends on humanitarian aid to survive.

The Syrian government in Damascus, alongside its key ally Russia, frequently launches airstrikes in the region.

Turkey has warned that it intends to launch a new military operation targeting the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in northwestern Syria. Turkey says Kurdish-led forces pose a security threat and considers them a terrorist group.

Associated Press, The Associated Press

[ad_2]
Gb8