BEIRUT (AP) — An airstrike on a rebel-held village in northwestern Syria early Thursday killed at least 15 people, including children, and wounded several others, opposition activists said.
The activists blamed Russian warplanes for the strike on Maaret Musreen village, which is home to thousands of internally displaced people.
The strike comes amid a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive in the northwestern province of Idlib, Syria’s last remaining rebel stronghold.
The offensive began in early December and has killed hundreds. The fighting has also displaced nearly a million people many of whom fled north toward the border with Turkey.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday’s airstrike hit a settlement for internally displaced people, killing 15 including children and women. It said 18 others were wounded.
Step news agency, an activist collective, said 16 people were killed including five children and also said that 18 people were wounded. Such discrepancies on casualty figures are not uncommon in the immediate aftermath of attacks in Syria.