Syrian and Russian warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes on Monday targeting rebel-held areas in northwest Syria, activists in Idlib reported. The strikes come in response to a surprise offensive by insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which recently captured Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city.
The White Helmets, a civil defense group operating in rebel-controlled areas, confirmed civilian casualties and extensive destruction of residential buildings. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said the airstrikes hit rebel-controlled territories in Aleppo, Hama countryside, and Idlib.
The Observatory revealed that over five days of fierce fighting between government forces and rebels, more than 440 people, including over 60 civilians, had been killed.
Syrian government forces have since launched a counter-offensive, regaining most of the areas in Hama’s countryside lost to rebels over the weekend, according to official sources.
Additionally, the Observatory reported the arrival of 200 pro-Iranian Iraqi militia fighters crossing the al-Bou Kamal border from Iraq to support Syrian government forces. Iran and Russia remain key allies of President Bashar al-Assad, whose administration has faced insurgency since 2011.
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