At least 13 killed in Syrian airstrikes

BEIRUT — Government airstrikes in a small northwestern town on the border with Turkey killed at least 13 people, Syrian activists said Sunday.

Activists of the Idlib News group and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two government air attacks on the town of Kfar Tarakhim in the northwest province of Idlib destroyed residential buildings.

A video uploaded purporting to show the incident showed men carrying a child with a burnt face out of a blazing building. The video looked authentic and corresponded to Associated Press reporting of the event.

“There’s so many wounded and dead, and very big fires,” panted a shocked voice. “Martyrs on the ground.”

One injured baby in a bright green playsuit screamed as a medic bandaged its head, and another badly burnt child was wheeled into what appeared to a makeshift clinic, his charred hands frozen in position.

“Remember God,” panted a man in the background to the burnt child.

Forces loyal to the Syrian President Bashar Assad have dropped bombs and fired missiles at opposition-held residential areas throughout the three-year uprising-turned-war.

The bombardment seems sometimes intended to push civilians elsewhere, allowing Syrian forces a freer hand to tackle rebels. Villages far from government troops are also sometimes hit, suggesting the government wants to punish them for supporting the opposition.