A man carries a crying child at a hospital following Russian airstrikes that targeted many areas in Syria’s north-western city of Idlib early on Tuesday, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. (Photo: AFP)
A man carries a crying child at a hospital following Russian airstrikes that targeted many areas in Syria’s north-western city of Idlib early on Tuesday, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. (Photo: AFP)
Turkey said on Tuesday that heavy airstrikes reported to have been carried out by Russian jets on a hospital and a mosque in Syria’s rebel-held city of Idlib had killed more than 60 civilians and injured around 200 people. In an e-mailed statement, the Turkish foreign ministry called on the international community to act swiftly against what it called the “indefensible” crimes of the Russian and Syrian administration.
Meanwhile, according to a monitoring group, Russian warplanes pounded an Al Qaeda-held Idlib in northwestern Syria overnight killing 23 civilians in the heaviest strikes in months.
Dozens of civilians were also wounded in the raids on Idlib, a provincial capital held by Al-Nusra Front and its allies since March 2015, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Al-Nusra is not party to a Russian- and US-brokered ceasefire that went into force on February 27 between Moscow-backed government forces and Washington-backed non-jihadist rebels.
“The airstrikes are the most intensive on Idlib since the beginning of the truce,” Observatory chief Rami Rahman said.
“Even though Idlib is not covered by the truce, it had been relatively calm with only intermittent raids,” he added.
However, Russia on Tuesday denied its planes had conducted airstrikes overnight against the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said had killed 23 people.
“Russian planes did not carry out any combat missions, to say nothing of any airstrikes, in the province of Idlib,” Igor Konashenkov, a Russian defence ministry spokesman, said.
