Russian airstrikes kill 9 civilians in Idlib, Syria

Civil defence crews and locals conduct search and rescue operations around wreckage of buildings after airstrikes carried out by Assad Regime over Saraqib district in the de-escalation zone of Idlib, Syria on 21 December 2019 [Hüseyin Fazıl / Anadolu Agency]

At least nine civilians were killed in Russian airstrikes in Idlib, northwestern Syria, where acts of violence are prohibited, a local civil defense agency said on Monday, Anadolu reports.

Syrian opposition aircraft monitors said Russian warplanes hit the district of Maarat al-Numan, as well as a number of villages overnight.

According to the White Helmets, the airstrikes killed nine civilians in Idlib.

Russian planes also target the routes Syrians take towards the Turkish border to escape the bombings on the residential area.

Following the airstrikes, civil defense teams launched search and rescue efforts.

READ: 12,000 Syrian civilians forcibly displaced by regime and Russia’s bombing

Over 1,300 civilians have been killed in the Idlib de-escalation zone despite a deal reached by Ankara and Moscow in September 2018.

Over a million Syrians have moved near the Turkish border following intense attacks.

Since the eruption of the bloody civil war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has taken in over 3.6 million Syrians who fled their country, making Turkey the world’s top refugee-hosting country.

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