Syria: At Least 6 Dead After Attack on Displaced Persons Camps

Syrian forces backed by Russian warplanes fired 30 rockets towards rebel-held areas in Idlib, also injuring dozens.

At least six people were killed and dozens wounded after Syrian government forces attacked tent settlements of displaced families in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib.

Opposition activists and first responders reported that government forces fired around 30 rockets, including towards the Maram camp on Sunday, killing six and wounding 25, the monitor’s Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. based in the UK.

Russian warplanes launched four sorties in western Idlib, said SOHR, which has been documenting the violence in Syria since the uprising began in 2011.

In response, rebel fighters attacked government positions with artillery and missiles in the Saraqeb area, east of Idlib, and the al-Ghab plain, it added.

The attacks are the latest violation of a March 2020 truce between Russia and Turkey that ended a Russian-backed government offensive in Idlib province, the last sizable rebel-held stronghold in Syria.

The ceasefire has been repeatedly violated in the last two years. In July, seven civilians, including four children from one family, were killed in a Russian airstrike in Idlib.

According to the White Helmets, the opposition Syrian Civil Defense Forces, six people were killed during the shelling of at least six camps, including two children and a woman, and 75 others were injured.

The pro-government radio station Sham FM reported that the attacks targeted positions of the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, the most powerful militia in Idlib.

The war in Syria began in 2011 after the government responded violently to the country’s protest movement. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and half of the country’s pre-war population of 23 million has been displaced.

Russia and Iran support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey has been backing opposition forces. Moscow’s intervention on the government side in 2015 turned the tide of the conflict.