Russian strikes near the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria killed ten people and injured thirty others, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported on Wednesday. “The number of people killed in Idlib increased to ten civilians, including a child, due to Russian airstrikes on the Idlib countryside”according to the UK-based NGO. Among the injured are fourteen children, added the Observatory, which also specified that Russia attacked “a sawmill, a furniture workshop and an oil mill” on the outskirts of the city of Idlib.
The Syrian Civil Defense, for its part, declared that the attacks “He attacked a furniture manufacturing workshop while workers were inside, killing ten civilians and seriously wounding thirty-two others.”. HE “ “White helmets” recovered the bodies of those killed, he said.
The Russian military has not commented on the attacks. Moscow, the main supporter of President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, has intervened militarily since 2015 and regularly carries out attacks against rebels in the northwest. A ceasefire negotiated by Russia and Türkiye was declared in Idlib, but is regularly violated.
The Syrian regime has regained control of much of the country with the support of its Russian and Iranian allies since the conflict broke out in 2011. About half of Idlib province is controlled by the jihadist rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham . In early September, twelve Syrian soldiers were killed in a suicide attack carried out by this organization, the OSDH said.
Israeli raid on Latakia overnight
During the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the official Syrian agency Sana reported an airstrike. “Israeli” which caused fires in the coastal city of Latakia, not far from Idlib.
“Air defense intercepted hostile targets over Latakia”reported the Sana agency, referring to “Fires started by Israeli aggression” at the entrance to this city, bastion of President Bashar Al-Assad, ally of Lebanese Hezbollah in war against Israel. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, for its part, reported on “Israeli attack on a weapons warehouse in Latakia”.