Assad regime shelling kills seven civilians, including children, in northwest Syria: monitor
Assad regime shelling kills seven civilians, including children, in northwest Syria: monitor
The shelling in the regions of Idlib and Aleppo on Saturday is said to be in retaliation for a drone strike on a military academy in Homs earlier this week, which killed dozens.
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Idlib and Aleppo, which are under rebel control, have frequently been targeted by regime attacks over the years [Getty]
Shelling by regime forces targeting several locations in rebel-held northwest Syria killed seven civilians including four children on Saturday, a war monitor said.
Bashar Al-Assad's regime has been bombing opposition-held areas in apparent retaliation for an attack on a military academy graduation ceremony in Homs on Thursday that killed dozens of people.
"Seven civilians, including four children, were killed in ground bombardment by regime forces on several locations" on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported.
It said three civilians, among them two children, died when government forces shelled a market and homes in the city of Idlib, and two more children were killed in shelling on the Idlib countryside.
Two men were also killed in separate bombardments in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, said the Britain-based monitor which has a wide network of sources inside Syria.
Idlib province and parts of the neighbouring Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces are controlled by the hardline Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as well as more moderate rebel groups.
The Observatory said that more than 30 people, mostly civilians, had been killed in government bombardment of rebel-held areas since the Homs attack on Thursday.
State media said the attack on the academy had killed 89, while the Observatory reporting a higher toll of 123 dead.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Homs attack, but the Syrian regime army accused "armed terrorist organisations" for the attack that used "explosive-laden drones", and vowed to "respond with full force".
Civil war erupted in Syria after President Bashar al-Assad's regime carried out a brutal crackdown on protesters over 10 years ago, shelling and bombing civilian buildings and arbitrarily arresting and torturing critics.
The conflict has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions after spiralling into a devastating war involving foreign armies, militias and Islamist groups.
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