Russian airstrikes kill 15 in Syria’s Idlib: Local sources

By Khalid Suliman

ALEPPO, Syria

Fifteen civilians were killed and another 17 injured on Tuesday when Russian warplanes struck a handful of opposition-held villages in Syria’s Idlib province, local Civil Defense sources told Anadolu Agency.

According to the sources, Russian warplanes targeted residential areas in four villages in Idlib.

Firas Faham, a local media activist based in Idlib province’s city of Maarat al-Nuuman, told Anadolu Agency that thousands of Syrians who had recently fled Aleppo due to fierce Russian airstrikes had since come to Idlib seeking refuge.

However, he said, those who had come to Idlib’s opposition-held areas remained exposed to frequent Russian attacks.

Russia first began its air campaign in Syria on Sept. 30 of last year.

While Russia claims its campaign is aimed primarily at the Daesh militant group, it has repeatedly targeted civilian areas and the moderate anti-regime opposition groups that control them.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which broke out as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than 250,000 people in the war-torn country have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures.