At least 25 have been killed as Russian and Syrian warplanes intensify their bombing of Syrian territory.
At least 25 people were killed in northwest Syria in airstrikes by the Syrian government and Russia, the Syrian opposition group known as the White Helmets said on Monday morning.
Russian and Syrian warplanes struck the rebel-held city of Idlib in northern Syria on Sunday, military sources said, as President Bashar al-Assad vowed to destroy the insurgents who entered the city of Aleppo.
The army also said that it has recaptured several towns that the rebels attacked in recent days.
Residents said one attack hit a densely populated area in the center of Idlib, the largest city in the rebel-held area near the Turkish border where about four million people live in tents and makeshift homes.
About seven people died and many were injured, according to the rescuers at the scene. The Syrian army and its Russian partner say they have targeted the hideout of terrorist groups and deny that they are attacking civilians.
Ten children were among those killed in airstrikes in and around Idlib and other rebel-held areas near Aleppo on Sunday, according to the White Helmets.
At least 20 children have died, rescue workers said
The number of people killed in the Syrian and Russian strikes since Nov. 27. we have increased to 56, including 20 children, said the group in a statement on X.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.
The rebels are a coalition of Turkish-backed state armed groups and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist group designated as a terrorist outfit by the US, Russia, Turkey and other states.
A Russian airstrike on Aleppo University Hospital in Syria has killed at least 12 people and injured more than 20. The bombing, in support of Syrian government forces, follows rebels taking control of Aleppo, the country's largest city.
In a joint statement, the United States, France, Germany and Britain urged “the reduction of all sides and the protection of civilians and infrastructure to prevent further migration and disruption of the flow of humanitarian aid.”
Insurgents have seized control of the entire province of Idlib in recent days, the latest in a rebel offensive in a decades-long civil war where the front lines have been frozen since 2020.
They also swept the city of Aleppo, east of Idlib, on Friday night, forcing the army to resume operations.
In a statement published in state media, Assad said: “Terrorists only know the language of force and that is the language we will crush them with.”
The Syrian army said dozens of its soldiers were killed in the battle for Aleppo.
Russian war correspondents reported on Sunday that Moscow had fired Sergei Kisel, the general in charge of its forces in Syria. Reuters has sought comment from Russia's defense ministry.
Residents leave Aleppo
Inside the city of Aleppo, streets were empty and many shops were closed on Sunday as fearful residents stayed at home. It was still full of people leaving the city, witnesses and residents said.
The terrorists are flying the flag of the opposition parties in the city, Yusuf Khatib, a resident, told Reuters by phone. Some rebels took up positions at the intersection, he added.
Ahmad Tutenji, a merchant in the affluent area of New Aleppo, said he was surprised at how quickly the soldiers were moving. “It scares me the way they ran away and abandoned us.”
Syrian forces that had withdrawn from the city were now regrouping and troops had been sent to assist in the attack, military sources said.
Aleppo has been firmly held by the government since its victory there in 2016, one of the war's biggest turning points, when Russian-backed Syrian forces besieged and destroyed rebel-held eastern areas of the country's largest city.
The shortage of those personnel has contributed to the rapid retreat of the Syrian army in recent days, according to two military sources.
The rebel gains came after Israel stepped up its attacks on Iranian bases in Syria and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. Iran-allied forces, led by Hezbollah, have a strong presence in the Aleppo area.
The head of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in a statement on Monday said its fighters in northwestern Syria are facing intense attacks in many areas.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said the group had tried to establish a “humanitarian route” linking the Kurdish-held regions of the northeast to Tel Rifaat, an area northwest of Aleppo “to protect our people from possible massacres.”
“However, attacks by Turkish-backed armed groups disrupted this route,” Abdi said, adding that “our forces continue to fight and protect our people in the Kurdish areas of Aleppo.”
Turkey considers the Kurdish militant groups Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish YPG to be terrorist organizations, along with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have blocked attempts by Kurdish groups to establish a tunnel connecting Tel Rifaat in northeastern Syria, Turkish security sources said on Sunday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday that Turkey will not tolerate what he calls terrorist threats against its security or Syrian citizens, Turkish media said.
The war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions, has continued since 2011 and has not officially ended. The heaviest fighting was halted years ago after Iran's military and Russian air power helped Assad capture all major cities.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who visited Damascus on Sunday, said the situation in Syria is difficult but the Assad government will succeed.
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