At least ten civilians, including six children, were killed in bombings by Russian fighter jets in northwest Syria, activists say. Russian fighter jets attacked a school that housed refugees, the Syrian Human Rights Observatory said on Tuesday. The bombs fell near the village of Sarakib in the east of Idlib province. Idlib is the last major rebel stronghold in the country.
The rebel-based observatory based in London gets its information from local activists. The information can hardly be checked by an independent party.
Since April, President Bashar al-Assad's government forces, with the support of Russia, have been trying to bring all areas in Idlib and neighboring Hama province under their control. The fighting has displaced around 60,000 people in the past few weeks, according to the United Nations. An estimated 400,000 people have had to leave their homes since the offensive began in April. UN Secretary General António Guterres has called for the immediate stopping of the fighting with regard to the people affected.
The United Nations Children's Fund Unicef said that children would carry the "full force" of violence in Syria. More than 500 children were injured or killed in the first nine months of the current year. In refugee camps near the Syrian-Turkish border, many families are still without protection and would sleep outdoors despite the cold weather.
In the village of Marat al-Numan in southern Idlib, the fighting led to the Syrian American Medical Association (SAMS) closing two large hospitals. The situation there has deteriorated significantly, said SAMS. Before the fighting escalated, both hospitals had supplied approximately 300,000 civilians.
