Children killed, hospital hit in Russian airstrikes in Syria's Idlib province

The Russian planes targeted the family’s home in Al-Dar Al-Kabira in the south Idlib province. The family had been displaced from the town of Latamneh which was captured by regime forces from the Syrian opposition earlier this year.

The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, spent several hours digging up the bodies of the children from their home.

Syrian media activists shared horrific pictures of the bodies on Facebook.

Another airstrike on Monday killed three civilians and injured 15 more people in Jisr al-Shughour in western Idlib province. Villages in the surrounding area have also targeted.

The local education authority announced the closure of all schools in the area for one week, in order to protect children from Russian bombing.

An airstrike also hit the Ikhlas Maternity and Children’s Hospital in the village of Shannan (Chenane), putting it out of service. Several medical staff were injured. Halab Today TV reported that the hospital offered specialised medical services to a large region.

Read more: Remaining hospitals in Syria’s Idlib overwhelmed with patients

The targeting of hospitals has been a frequent tactic of Russian and regime forces during the Syrian conflict, with the medical charity UOSSM saying that 50 hospitals in Idlib province have been targeted since April 2019.

Russia and the regime have been stepping up their airstrikes on rebel-held Idlib province, the last opposition stronghold in Syria, in recent days.

Bashar Al-Assad's regime began an offensive against Idlib province last April, killing hundreds of people and displacing at least 500,000.

The province had been relatively quiet since September, when Russia and Turkey agreed to a new ceasefire. 

On Saturday at least six civilians in the village of Jaballa were killed by another Russian airstrike and on Tuesday regime forces struck two medical facilities in Jisr al-Shughour.

The Syrian conflict began in 2011, after the Assad regime brutally suppressed pro-democracy protests.

More than 500,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced then, mostly as a result of regime bombardment of civilian areas.