Regime strikes kill 10, hit hospital in northwest Syria

Four children were among 10 people killed in regime fire on several towns in Idlib province and neighbouring Aleppo countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A hospital in the Idlib town of Kafranbel was hit by artillery shells, said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian office.

"The facility is reportedly out of service due to severe structural damage," he told AFP.

The hospital's administrative director Majed al-Akraa confirmed the attack.

"The hospital is completely out of service," he said.

"It was a strong attack. The generators and even my car caught fire," he told AFP.

It follows two days of intensified regime bombardment on the region that killed a total of 31 civilians on Sunday and Monday.

Rescue volunteers and civilians were seen pulling dust-covered victims from the rubble of destroyed buildings in the wake of those strikes.

Idlib and parts of the neighbouring provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Latakia have been mostly under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria's former al-Qaeda affiliate since January 2019. Mainstream Syrian rebel groups still operate in the region

Idlib province has been under attack by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally since late April despite a September 2018 ceasefire deal which established a "de-escalation zone" in the province.

Over 260 civilians have been killed in the past month and more than 200,000 civilians have been displaced, according to the United Nations.

The UN has warned an all-out offensive on the region would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe for its nearly three million residents.

At least 20 health facilities have been hit by the escalation -- 19 of which remain out of service, the UN has said.

More than 500,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since 2011, mostly as a result of regime bombing of civilian areas.

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