Dozens killed in airstrikes in Syria
BEIRUT — Airstrikes hit towns and villages in northern Syria Friday, killing and wounding dozens of people, opposition activists and pro-government media said. Meanwhile, clashes in the country’s centre and east with Islamic State led government forces to secure a main highway linking the capital Damascus with eastern Syria.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes are concentrating on Idlib, Hama and Aleppo provinces north of the country, which witnessed clashes last week between Syrian and Russian troops and insurgents.
Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory’s chief, said 42 towns and villages were bombarded on Friday alone, killing at least 12 and wounded 31.
The opposition’s Thiqa News Agency released a video showing a bloodied dead baby being pulled from under the rubble in the village of Urem Al-Kubra in Aleppo province. Thiqa said five people were killed in strikes Urem al-Kubra.
Opposition activists say Syrian and Russian warplanes have been bombing northern Syria for nearly a week, killing as many as 150 people.
The airstrikes in northern Syria came as government forces have been fighting fierce battles with Islamic State members in central and eastern Syria, clashes that killed scores of troops and pro-government militiamen, according to Islamic State statements and Syrian opposition activists.
Violence had broken out Thursday when Islamic State fighters attacked the village of Shola, capturing it from government forces and cutting off the highway linking the capital, Damascus, and the eastern city of Deir el-Zour.
Al-Manar TV of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, which is fighting with government forces in Syria, said that the highway has been secured.
The Observatory said two days of fighting in the desert area left 120 Syrian troops, Hezbollah fighters and other pro-government gunmen dead. The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media said Syrian troops repelled the attack by Islamic State.
The attack by Islamic State came as a surprise at a time when the extremists are losing ground across their self-declared caliphate. In July, the group lost the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria is currently under attack by the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.