Syrian regime and rebel bombardments kill 13 civilians in Idlib

Syrian regime and rebel bombardments kill 13 civilians in Idlib
Syrian regime and rebel shelling has killed at least 13 civilians in opposition Idlib province.
2 min read
07 April, 2019
Idlib has been hit with repeated bombing over the past five days [Getty-file photo]

At least 13 Syrian civilians have been killed following a massive and rebel bombardments in and around opposition Idlib province on Sunday, monitors and activist have reported.

Syria's White Helmets reported that five people were killed following missile attacks on al-Nayrab town in Idlib province.

"[Five civilians] killed including one child and one woman, and 18 others were injured including 6 children and 5 women, after an attack by regime's forces with 2 missiles loaded with cluster munitions on al-Nayrab town," the White Helmets tweeted on Sunday.

Syrian journalist Zouhir al-Shimale reported that a Russian air strikes targeted parts of Idlib, while others shared images on social media they said were of rockets and cluster bombs used in the bombardment by the regime.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime shelling killed nine civilians in several areas of Idlib on Sunday.

The observatory also said that shelling by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group on the regime-held town of Masyaf in neighbouring Hama killed four civilians.

For the past week, both sides have exchanged fire which follows repeated regime bombardments of Idlib province over the past two weeks.

The opposition province is supposed to be covered by a de-escalation zone, although the truce now looks shaky after an up-tick in fighting.

At least 45 people have been killed in shelling in Idlib over the past five days, the vast majority due to regime bombardments.

Syria's regime has threatened to launch a new offensive on the opposition province, which is home to 3 million civilians - around half are refugees.