Syria: Dozens dead as airstrikes destroy market and school

An airstrike on a market in the town of Maaret al-Noumaan in Idlib believed to have been carried out by Syrian forces, resulted in at least 13 civilian deaths on Monday. Later, Turkish artillery shells landed near a school in a Kurdish town, killing nine people, eight of whom were children.

Further deaths in airstrikes across the northern Idlib and Aleppo provinces made Monday a particularly bloody day. Syrian government troops recently renewed their push to reclaim the last opposition stronghold in the province while Turkey has broadened its military operations there.

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The death toll figures come from UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Two more people were killed when Russian planes struck a village south of Idlib city, they say. Overall, they say that 96 people, including soldiers, were killed in Idlib on Sunday and Monday.

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The Observatory estimates that 4,775 people have been killed since President Bashar Assad's government began a military offensive in April against opposition-held areas, including in Idlib province.

Differing death tolls have been suggested by Kurdish news agency Hawar, the opposition-run Aleppo Media Agency and the Syrian Civil Defense group of first responders.

Idlib province, which borders Turkey, has also borne the full brunt of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's military offensive into Kurdish-held areas of Syria.

Separately, a building that was the target of sustained heavy shelling in the city of Aleppo collapsed on Monday, killing nine people and wounding 21.

ed/ng (dpa, AFP, Reuters)

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