Fragile Syria truce in jeopardy after new Russia airstrikes on Latakia

Russia aircraft carried out airstrikes in Latakia province on Tuesday - the first since a truce was declared on 31 August covering northwest Syria, a war monitor said.

"Russian aircraft carried out two strikes on positions held by jihadist groups in the Kabani district of Latakia province which borders Idlib," the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

He said it was unclear whether the strikes were a one-off or heralded the breakdown of the latest truce.

The Syria Campaign confirmed that air strikes had taken place but did not identify a perpetrator.

"There have reportedly been two airstrikes on northwest Syria, the first since the Syrian regime and Russia declared a truce on 31 August.

It is not yet clear whether it was the Syrian regime or Russia who carried out the strikes and whether they indicate an end to the ceasefire," they said on Twitter.

The truce brought a halt to four months of devastating air and artillery campaign by the Syrian regime and its Russian ally, which it killed over a thousand people dead and left around a million homeless.

Another ceasefire agreed in August collapsed after just a few days.

The region of some three million people is one of the last holdouts of opposition to forces of President Bashar al-Assad.