At least 25 people were killed in air strikes carried out by the Syrian government and Russia in the rebel-held city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, the Syrian opposition-run rescue service known as the White Helmets said early on Monday.
Russian and Syrian jets struck the city on Sunday, as President Bashar al-Assad vowed to crush insurgents who had swept into the city of Aleppo. The army also said it had recaptured several towns that rebels had overrun in recent days.
Residents said one attack hit a crowded residential area in the centre of Idlib, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens. Ten children were among the dead, according to the White Helmets.
The Syrian army and its ally Russia say they target the hideouts of insurgent groups and deny attacking civilians. The total death toll from Syrian and Russian strikes since November 27 had climbed to 56, including 20 children, the group added.
The insurgents are a coalition of Turkey-backed mainstream secular armed groups along with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist group that has been designated a terrorist outfit by the US, Russia, Turkey and other states.
In a joint statement, the United States, France, Germany, and Britain urged “de-escalation by all parties and the protection of civilians and infrastructure to prevent further displacement and disruption of humanitarian access”.
The Syrian army said dozens of its soldiers had been killed in the fighting in Aleppo. Russian war bloggers reported that Moscow had dismissed Sergei Kisel, the general in charge of its forces in Syria.
Rebel fighters had seized control of all of Idlib province and swept into the city of Aleppo, forcing the army to redeploy. The Syrian government vowed to crush the insurgents, with President Assad saying “terrorists only know the language of force and it is the language we will crush them with”.
The war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced many millions, has ground on since 2011 with no formal end.
