Cairo, June 25 (EFE) – Suspected Russian airstrikes in a rebel-held area of Syria killed at least 11 people, including seven civilians, on Sunday, marking one of the deadliest attacks this year in the conflict-ravaged region.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been monitoring the war that has lasted over a decade, reported that Russian forces conducted aerial raids in the country’s northwest in retaliation for deadly drone attacks attributed to rebel forces.
According to the war monitor, six civilians and three rebel fighters were killed in an attack on the outskirts of the city of Jisr Al-Shughour, while one civilian and one combatant lost their lives on the outskirts of Idlib City.
The UK-based monitor stated that 30 other people were injured in Jisr Al-Shughour, some of them seriously, which may increase the death toll.
The monitor described this incident as “the first massacre by Russian fighter jets in Syrian territory in 2023.”
The White Helmets rescue group reported that Russian warplanes targeted a vegetable and fruit market on the outskirts of Jisr al Shughur City.
Most of Idlib province, which is considered the last opposition stronghold in Syria, as well as various areas in neighboring Aleppo, are still held by a multitude of rebel groups more than 12 years after the armed conflict began in the Arab country.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by former members of Syria’s former al-Qaeda branch, is the dominant group in the region.
This group controls the majority of these areas, frequently subjected to ground attacks by Syrian government forces and their ally Russia. EFE
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