Russian strikes on Syria claim lives of three civilians

Russian warplanes hit the outskirts of the northwest Syrian city of Idlib, on Saturday, claiming the lives of at least three civilians from the same family, said a war monitor.

Russia over the years has repeatedly hit Syria's final major opposition stronghold, but attacks claiming the lives of civilians had been limited this year until an uptick in violence was recorded in late June.

"Russian air strikes this morning" to the west of the city left "three dead from the same family... and six people wounded", the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding rescue teams were still at work removing rubble.

The Observatory added there were four strikes in the area where rebel bases are present.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has regained most of the territory that it had lost to rebels early in the conflict with the support of Russia and Iran.

The war in Syria broke out in the year 2011 after the repression of peaceful anti-government protests spiralled into a deadly brawl that dragged in foreign powers and global jihadists.

The war has so far claimed the lives of more than half a million people and displaced millions.

Since 2020, a ceasefire deal brokered by Damascus ally Moscow and rebel-backer Ankara has largely held in Syria's northwest, despite periodic clashes.

But, in an uptick in violence, air strikes by Russia on June 25, claimed the lives of at least 13 people in Idlib province, which according to the Observatory was the deadliest such attack on the country this year.

The people who were killed included nine civilians and two children. Six of them were killed at a fruit and vegetable market in Jisr al-Shughur.

On June 28, Damascus's defence ministry said Syrian and Russian forces had launched air strikes on rebel bases in the Idlib region.

The operation came "in response to daily and repeated attacks... on civilians" in residential areas in nearby Hama province, the ministry had said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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