(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least ten civilians, including three children, were killed and 45 more wounded in fresh regime air strikes on the northwestern province of Idlib, local activists told Zaman al-Wasl Friday.
The aerial bombing targeted the town of Maa'rret al-Nu'man in the southern countryside, leaving three people killed and eight wounded. Also, the strikes hit the town of Ariha. Woman and baby girls were killed and 20 others wounded. Seven more people were wounded in the Sukhoi (Su-23) and (Su-24) strikes on Idlib city.
"It's the first time that the raids hit the centre of Idlib, after being confined until now to its suburbs," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Last month a civilian was killed in an air strike on the outskirts of the regional capital, considered the stronghold of Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Friday's air strikes hit residential buildings in one of Idlib's largest squares, Sabaa Bahrat, an AFP photographer said.
Ambulances were dispatched to the scene to tend to the victims, he added.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Hama province, six children were wounded by opposition fire in the regime-held area of Karnaz.
Fierce clashes have raged in the northern sliver of Hama province in recent days, with at least 22 fighters killed Friday, according to the Observatory.
At least 10 regime fighters and a dozen jihadists and allied rebels were killed in the battle near the village of Hamameyat and its strategic hilltop.
Regime forces retook the area in the north of Hama province overnight into Friday after relentless fighting, according to the Britain-based war monitor.
The latest figures bring to more than 120 the number of fighters killed since Wednesday evening, when Hamameyat was seized by rebels and jihadists.
Russian and regime fighter jets have since late April ramped up deadly bombardment of the Idlib region of some 3 million people in northwest Syria, despite a deal to avert a massive regime assault.
More than 580 civilians have been killed in northwest Syria since the end of April, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activists say.
Also, the spike in violence has caused 330,000 people to flee their homes since May 1, the UN has said.
The area includes most of Idlib province as well as parts of neighbouring Hama, Aleppo and Latakia.
Endless rounds of U.N.-led peace talks have failed to stem the bloodshed in Syria.
U.N. peace envoy Geir Pedersen, however, is pushing ahead with a 17-month-old effort to form a committee to write a postwar constitution.
Syria's war has killed more than 560,000 people and displaced millions since it started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests. (Zaman Al Wasl, AFP)
Zaman Al Wasl
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