Intense offensive
Airstrike on rebel-held northwestern Syrian village kills dozens
Warplanes attacked a rebelheld northwestern village in Syria, killing at least 35 people and wounding dozens more, including children, in one of the deadliest incidents in that part of the country this year, a Syrian war monitor and paramedics said Friday.
The opposition’s Syrian Civil Defence, also known as White Helmets, said the airstrike Thursday night killed 35 and wounded 80 in the village of Zardana. It added that the dead included three of its members, who were killed as they evacuated the dead and wounded.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike killed 44, including six children and 11 women. It added that the attack occurred after Muslims broke their Ramadan holiday fast after sunset.
It is not uncommon to have conflicting figures in the aftermath of attacks in Syria.
The Observatory said the number could still rise as some of the victims were still under the rubble
and some wounded were in critical condition.
The Observatory said the airstrike
was carried out by Russian warplanes and is so far the deadliest in Idlib province this year.
Such airstrikes have been relatively uncommon in recent months in the rebel-held province, which is part of a de-escalation zone agreed on last year by Russia, Turkey and Iran.
Tens of thousands of Syrians displaced from other parts of the country have settled in Idlib province over the past two years.
Meanwhile in eastern Syria, members of the Islamic State group launched an offensive on the town of Boukamal near the Iraqi border killing and wounding troops and pro-government forces.
The Observatory said the intense offensive killed 25 progovernment gunmen while 18 IS fighters were killed including 10 who detonated their vehicles or explosive belts they were wearing. The Observatory said IS fighters entered parts of Boukamal on Friday.
The Deir Ezzor 24, an activist collective in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour said some progovernment gunmen were killed or wounded an attacks by IS on their positions on the outskirts of the town.