Russian airstrikes kill eight people in Syrian Idlib province
At least eight people, including five children, were killed after Russian airstrikes in northwestern Syria on Tuesday. United Nations informs that children are most affected by the violence taking place in the country.
Strikes were carried out in the village of Jubas near the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attacks killed civilians who were sheltering in the school and near it.
"Children suffer the most because of the escalation of violence in northwestern Syria," reports UNICEF.
"The war has been going on for nine years, and children in Syria continue to face unimaginable violence, psychological trauma, and suffering."
According to the UN, tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes since December 16 due to increased bombing by the Syrian government and Russian Armed Forces in the province of Idlib.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, over the same period, more than 80 civilians were killed during airstrikes and artillery attacks, and the total number of internally displaced persons exceeded 40,000 people. Several thousand more people have fled their homes in the last 24 hours because of the massive strikes in the Saraqeb area.
The UN has called for "immediate de-escalation" and warned of the threat of further mass resettlement if violence in Idlib, which is the last major bastion of the Syrian opposition, does not stop.
Since Thursday, Syrian Armed Forces have taken control of dozens of towns and villages in southern Idlib after clashes with jihadists. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 260 people on both sides were killed in the clashes.
At the moment, Syrian Armed Forces are located less than 4 km from the strategic town of Ma'arrat al-Numan, said the president of Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul Rahman.
On Tuesday, the Syrian army said that it had recaptured 320 square kilometers from the enemy in recent days and promised to continue its offensive until the entire Idlib province is under their control.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is a former al-Qaeda unit, remains the dominant force in Idlib.
About three million people live in the province, including many internally displaced people who moved there from other parts of Syria during the war.
The Syrian government, which currently controls 70 percent of Syria, has repeatedly promised to take back control over the region.
In April, Damascus, backed by Moscow, launched a massive offensive in Idlib, during which about 1,000 civilians were killed, and more than 400,000 people were displaced.
Despite the proclaimed ceasefire in August, the shelling in the region continues.
Meanwhile, on Friday, Russia and China blocked a resolution of the UN Security Council to extend the delivery of humanitarian aid across the border for one year. The issue has raised fears that humanitarian aid will no longer reach opposition-held areas of Syria from January unless an alternative agreement is reached.