Eighteen civilians were killed Thursday in northwestern Syria during airstrikes believed to have been carried out by Russia, the strongest ally of Bashar al-Assad's regime, according to a new report released by the non-governmental Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The raids targeted a residential area in Zardan district, Idlib province. As a result, about fifty other civilians were injured, according to the same NGO, which initially reported 11 dead. The death toll is likely to rise as many people are buried under rubble, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A French Agency correspondent who went to the scene saw a large crater between two- and three-storey properties that collapsed in part or in full. At a nearby hospital, the victims included women, children, the elderly and ambulances, he added.
Most of Idlib province remains out of government control and is controlled by various rebel or jihadist organizations. Following Russia's involvement in the 2015 war in Syria, the Syrian regime has regained control of more than half of the country. More than 350.000 people have been killed in Syria since the war broke out in that country in 2011.
