Russian strikes in Syria’s Idlib kill 27 civilians

BEIRUT: Russian air strikes on northwest Syria’s mainly jihadist-controlled province of Idlib on Monday killed at least 27 civilians, a Britain-based monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was the highest civilian death toll in Idlib since the region was designated in May as one of Syria’s "de-escalation" zones under an accord between regime allies Russia and Iran, and rebel backer Turkey.

"The air raids struck several locations and villages in the Jisr al-Shughur area of the province bordering Turkey, leaving 27 dead among civilians, 10 of them children," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

After several months of calm, Idlib province has for the past two weeks been the target of heavy air strikes by the regime and its Russian allies, following a jihadist assault in neighbouring Hama province also covered by the de-escalation accord for Syria’s war that has cost more than 330,000 lives since 2011.