Regime air strikes kill 9 civilians in Syria’s northwest, monitor says

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Regime and Russian air strikes kill nine civilians in northwest Syria, where heightened bombardment has claimed hundreds of lives since late April, a war monitor says.

Russian air raids on several areas in the south of Idlib province leave six civilians dead, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

Regime air raids kill three civilians in the same region, which is controlled by Syria’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Britain-based monitor adds.

The bombardment wounds 20 other civilians in total, it says.

Regime forces have in recent days chipped away at the jihadist-dominated region of Idlib on the Turkish border after months of deadly bombardment. The gains come despite a deal reached between rebel backer Turkey and regime ally Russia last year to set up a buffer zone around the region to protect its some three million inhabitants.

— AFP