(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 42 people have been killed in Russian and Syrian airstrikes on northern Idlib province since Sunday as the regime army extends its ground and aerial attacks on rebel-held areas that included in the de-escalation zone agreement, the Civil Defense rescuing group said on Tuesday.
The deadly airstrikes have also killed 40 rebel fighters from Faylaq al-Sham group in the village of Mardikh near Idlib city, opposition news feeds said.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday denied allegations that its air strikes had killed civilians in Idlib, saying that in recent days it had only bombed Islamist militant fighters in the area, according to Reuters.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticised Moscow on Monday for the same reason, saying that recent Russian bombing in Idlib had killed civilians and moderate rebels and that this would be discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visited Turkey this week.
Russia and the Syrian regime have stepped up its deadly aerial campaign on Idlib and Hama provinces since Tuesday, conducting more than 150 raids.
Hayat Tahir al-Sham, former al-Qaeda group, backed by 5 rebel factions launched major attack on regime bastions in Hama and southern Idlib. The attack was the biggest in the area since March.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that rebels had launched Idlib offensive to hinder the regime's advances in Deir Ezzor province.
On Monday, rebels stormed pro-regime militias near the Assad's hometown of al-Qardaha with Grad rockets, killing two fighters, media outlets said on Monday.
The Grad-rocket attack was in retaliation to a heavy aerial bombing on Jisr al-Shugour town at the enclaves of coastal Latakia region that left two civilians dead, rebel accounts said.
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