Monitor: 13 civilians killed in airstrikes on Idlib countryside

Airstrikes late Friday by Syrian government warplanes and helicopters on areas in the countryside of Idlib killed 13 civilians, including children, a monitoring group said.

Seven children and three women were among those killed by the airstrikes that hit the village of Mouhambel, in the western countryside of Idlib in northwestern Syria, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

It added that several civilians were wounded.

Activists in Idlib said the village was targeted by at least 10 helicopter strikes that used barrel bombs — crude improvised unguided containers packed with explosives, fuel, shrapnel, glass, and other lethal material.

Barrel bombs have been used extensively by the Syrian government during the country’s 8-year civil war.

The watchdog said the planes and helicopters carried out roughly 98 overnight strikes on various areas in the western and southern countryside of Idlib.

Since late April, forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, supported by Russian air power, have been conducting a massive campaign against rebels in the provinces of Hama and Idlib, the last major opposition stronghold in the country.

The escalation has claimed more than 500 civilian lives, among them 145 children, and displaced more than 300,000 people, according to the Observatory.

Source: Monitor: 13 civilians killed in airstrikes on Idlib countryside | National | bakersfield.com