Russian airstrikes killed at least 13 people in rebel-held Syria on Sunday in one of the deadliest attacks on the country this year.
Among the dead were at least nine civilians, including two children, with most killed at a fruit and vegetable market in Jisr al-Shugur in the Idlib region, reported news agency AFP.
“These Russian strikes are the deadliest in Syria this year and amount to a massacre,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
According to the Observatory, Russian forces — which back President Bashar al-Assad’s regime — were responding to rebel drone strikes over the past week that killed four civilians including two children, as per the report.
The Syrian Defence Ministry said in a statement Sunday evening that its armed forces had “cooperated” with the Russian air force in retaliation for attacks over the past few days that killed civilians in Hama and Latakia provinces, as per the report.
The operation targeted “terrorist positions” in Idlib province, killing dozens and destroying arms depots and drones, said the statement carried by Syria’s official news agency SANA.
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