Dozens killed in air strike

An air strike on a rebel training camp in Syria has killed more than 50 Turkish-backed fighters and wounded nearly as many, a Syrian opposition spokesman and a war monitor have said.

The air strike in the northwestern part of Idlib province, the last rebel enclave in Syria, targeted a military training camp for Failaq al-Sham, one of the largest Turkish- backed opposition groups in Syria, said Youssef Hammoud, a spokesman for the groups.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria, gave a higher toll at 78 fighters dead and nearly 90 wounded.

Rescue missions were still under way, the Observatory said, adding it also suspected the air strike was carried out by Russia, which is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country’s civil war.

Leaders of the camp were among those killed, according to Mr Hammoud, and Syrian rebel groups have vowed to retaliate.

“The factions of the National Front for Liberation will respond to these violations,” said Naji al- Mustafa, another spokesman for the Turkish-backed fighters, threatening to target government and Russian posts.

Turkey and Russia had brokered a ceasefire in Idlib earlier this year to halt a government offensive that displaced hundreds of thousands.

Turkey has long supported Syrian rebel forces in Syria and Russia had negotiated with Ankara to deploy observation teams in the rebel enclave to monitor the ceasefire.

Last week, Turkish troops evacuated one of their largest military bases in the area, which was surrounded by Syrian government troops for months.

Syrian opposition fighters said it was part of Turkey’s redeployment of its forces in the shrinking enclave.

CITY IN MOURNING: People attend the funeral of fighters killed in an air strike in the city of Idlib, Syria.