Russian planes bomb rebel-held Idlib in Syria, witnesses say Reuters

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) – Russian planes bombed areas near the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Sunday, witnesses and rebel sources said, marking the last stronghold of the opposition as the new year begins.

High-flying warplanes, monitoring centers said they were Russian Sukhoi planes, bombed several towns and served a crowded Idlib city in a major water pumping station, with a wider population of more than a million.

Russia or the Syrian army received no immediate comment, saying they are hiding places for militant groups that control the region but deny attacks on civilians.

A city water service official said he was inactive due to the strikes.

A senior UN official confirmed that the water station was “severely damaged” in an airstrike, saying that the attacks had exacerbated the humanitarian situation of millions of displaced Syrians.

“The continued destruction of civilian infrastructure will lead to greater suffering for civilians. Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure must be stopped,” UN humanitarian coordinator Mark Cutts said in a tweet.

Witnesses said that the strike in the last 24 hours in a rebel-held enclave has also affected livestock and poultry farms near the Bab al Hawa border crossing with Turkey.

“The Russians are focusing on infrastructure and economic assets. This is to add to the suffering of the people,” said Abu Hazem Idlibi, an opposition administration official.

Other targets included villages in the southern Jabal al-Zawiya region of Idlib province, with no immediate reports of deaths, according to residents and rescuers.

A search of the area near Jisr al Shuqhur, west of Idlib, struck thousands of improvised camps for thousands of displaced children and two children, killing 10 civilians and injuring 10 civilians, according to civil defense.

There has been a relative hiatus in the airstrikes since November, after a renewed campaign led by Russia raised the possibility of re-escalating violence inside the enclave after reinforcements from the Turkish army.

Almost two years ago, an agreement between Russia, backed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, which supports opposition groups, ended fighting that displaced more than a million people in just a few months.