Air raids kill 21 civilians in Syria’s Aleppo, monitor reports

At least 21 civilians, including five children, were killed in airstrikes on Syria’s northern Aleppo province, despite a “de-escalation zone” in place there, a monitor says.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it was not immediately clear whether the strikes on the rebel-held town of Atareb had been carried out by Syrian warplanes, or those of Damascus’s ally Russia.

The monitor said three strikes hit the town’s market, adding that the overall toll was expected to rise because dozens of people had been wounded or were still missing after the attack.

Atareb is in the west of Aleppo province, in an area that is part of a “de-escalation zone” agreed under a deal earlier this year between Syria’s allies Russia and Iran, and rebel backer Turkey.

— AFP