Airstrikes in Syria kill at least 17 at school

BEIRUT — Airstrikes in Syria killed at least 17 people, mostly children, on Wednesday when warplanes struck a school complex in the northern rebel-held province of Idlib, activists said.

The Idlib News network said the strikes hit as the children were gathered outside the school complex in the village of Hass. The activist-operated group put the death toll at 17, and said most of the victims were children.

There were fears the death toll could rise further as some of the wounded were reported to be in critical condition, the network added. Another activist group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and the U.N. Children’s Fund put the death toll at 22. The Observatory said 14 children and a woman were among those killed, and UNICEF director Anthony Lane labelled the repeated airstrikes a “war crime.”

Syrian and Russian officials deny targeting civilians. Nevertheless, Russia canceled a request to refuel a flotilla of its Syria-bound warships at a Spanish port Wednesday after Madrid faced mounting criticism from NATO’s secretary general and Britain’s defense minister that the eight-ship battle group, reported to be accompanied by submerged escort submarines, will probably be used to increase the Russian airstrikes in Syria.

Earlier in the day, the northern Aleppo province saw a new escalation as a helicopter believed to belong to Syrian government forces dropped barrel bombs in a deadly attack on Turkey-backed opposition forces in the border area, Turkish officials said.