©(Handout, US Department of Defense, AFP)
Russian air strikes on the last major rebel stronghold in Syria killed five civilians from the same family, including three children, according to rescuers and a war monitor on Tuesday.
"On December 25 at 10:00 pm (0700 GMT), Russian warplanes targeted civilian houses," on the outskirts of the town of Armanaz, in Idlib province, said Abdel Halim Shehab of the White Helmets voluntary search-and-rescue group. Members of the White Helmets, which operates in rebel-held zones of northern Syria, pulled the victims from under the rubble of their houses, he said. "The victims were from the same family of six: five of them were killed, and a child survived," he said, identifying the dead as the father, mother, and three of their children.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor with a network of sources across the war-torn country, also said Russia carried out the strikes. The Britain-based organization reported the same toll of five dead.
Moscow is one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's key backers, providing him with military, political, and economic support in the country's 12-year civil war. Russia's intervention in the Syrian war since 2015 has helped forces loyal to Assad claw back much of the territory they lost to rebels early in the conflict.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, controls portions of Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces. Designated a terrorist organization by Syria, the United States, and the European Union, HTS regularly clashes with Syrian and allied Russian forces.
Since 2020, a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and rebel-backer Turkey has largely held in Syria's northwest, despite periodic clashes.
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
"On December 25 at 10:00 pm (0700 GMT), Russian warplanes targeted civilian houses," on the outskirts of the town of Armanaz, in Idlib province, said Abdel Halim Shehab of the White Helmets voluntary search-and-rescue group. Members of the White Helmets, which operates in rebel-held zones of northern Syria, pulled the victims from under the rubble of their houses, he said. "The victims were from the same family of six: five of them were killed, and a child survived," he said, identifying the dead as the father, mother, and three of their children.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor with a network of sources across the war-torn country, also said Russia carried out the strikes. The Britain-based organization reported the same toll of five dead.
Moscow is one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's key backers, providing him with military, political, and economic support in the country's 12-year civil war. Russia's intervention in the Syrian war since 2015 has helped forces loyal to Assad claw back much of the territory they lost to rebels early in the conflict.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch, controls portions of Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces. Designated a terrorist organization by Syria, the United States, and the European Union, HTS regularly clashes with Syrian and allied Russian forces.
Since 2020, a ceasefire deal brokered by Russia and rebel-backer Turkey has largely held in Syria's northwest, despite periodic clashes.
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
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