More than 20 killed in air raids on Idlib by the regime

At least 21 people have been killed in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province as Syrian government forces and their Russian allies intensified an air offensive on the country's northwest, according to rescue workers who operate in opposition-held areas.

The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, said air raids and barrel bombs on Wednesday struck a vegetable market in the town of Ariha, as well as repair workshops in an industrial area, a few hundred metres away from the market.

At least 19 people were killed in the attacks on the market and the nearby shops, including a Civil Defence volunteer, Ahmed Sheikho, a spokesman for the group, told Al Jazeera.

A man was also killed in the village of Has as a result of a Syrian government air raid, Sheikho said, while a young girl succumbed to wounds sustained in a previous attack, which took place before the latest ceasefire was implemented.

The least 82 people were wounded in the attacks on Wednesday and the death toll is likely to increase, according to the White Helmets.

21 innocent people have lost their lives today, and 82 others have been injured, as a result of the regime/Russian terrorist attacks on #Idlib and #Ariha market and many other places in northern #syria. The number of dead will climb as many are critically injured. pic.twitter.com/OSbgkynMz2

— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) January 15, 2020

The bombardment engulfed several vehicles in the industrial zone, leaving the charred corpses of motorists trapped inside, an AFP news agency correspondent said.

Mustafa, who runs a repair shop in the area, told AFP he returned to find the shop destroyed and his four employees trapped under the rubble. It was not immediately clear if they had survived.

"This is not the neighborhood I left two minutes ago," Mustafa said.

People inspect destruction caused by government air raids in the town of Ariha, Idlib province [Ghaith Alsayed/AP Photo]

The attacks come days after a brief lull. The ceasefire brokered by Moscow, which supports the Syrian government, and Turkey, which backs the rebels, faltered on Tuesday night when air raids hit a string of towns in the southern part of Idlib province.

Since December 1, around 350,000 people, mostly women and children, have been displaced by the renewed offensive, the United Nations said on Thursday. 

Sara Kayyali, a Syria researcher for Human Rights Watch, said nearly four million civilians are "essentially trapped" in Idlib due to the relentless bombardment. 

"It's likely that many of these attacks on protected civilian infrastructure, where there is large civilian presence and no real military target, are likely to be war crimes," Kayyali told Al Jazeera.

The northwestern region is home to nearly three million people, about half of whom were transferred there in large groups from other parts of the country which had been held by rebels and were retaken by pro-government forces.

Source: Al-Jazeera