Syria regime air strikes kill six civilians in Aleppo

BEIRUT: Syrian government air strikes killed at least six civilians, including four children, in Aleppo province on Thursday, despite a fragile twoweek-old truce, a monitor said.

In neighbouring Idlib province, at least 22 jihadists were killed in air strikes over the past 24 hours, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Some were carried out by government aircraft, others by aircraft of the Us-led coalition, the Britain-based monitoring group said. The civilians were killed early on Thursday when a government air strike hit a house in the village of Babka in the west of Aleppo province.

It said the death toll could rise because a number of the wounded were in serious condition. Most of the dead in the Idlib strikes were fighters of the former Al-qaeda affiliate Fateh al-sham. Two of the group’s commanders were among 16 fighters killed in a coalition strike on their convoy on Wednesday, the Observatory said.

Earlier, three allied jihadists were killed in a government raid. Later, three Fateh al-sham fighters were killed in apparent drone strikes. The Observatory says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved.

The strikes came despite a nationwide truce brokered by regime supporter Russia and rebel backer Turkey that has been in place since December 30. The truce does not include Fateh al-sham, formerly known as Al-nusra Front, or the Islamic State group.

The ceasefire has brought quiet to large parts of the country, but sporadic violence has continued in some areas, threatening the fragile agreement.