Iranian drone attack kills two in northwestern Syria, including rebel commander

At least two people were killed in an Iranian drone attack on rebel-held northwestern Syria on Tuesday, The New Arab’s sister publication Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

The suicide drones targeted the neighbouring villages of Basoufan and Kabashin in the northern countryside of the Aleppo governorate.

One of the casualties was reportedly a rebel commander, a Syrian activist told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. Five more people were wounded.

There were no further details on the casualties.

Separately on Tuesday, Syrian regime forces and Russian-backed militias targeted several towns and villages in the western Aleppo countryside and southern Idlib province.

The Syrian regime has stepped up attacks in recent months on that part of the country which largely remains under the control of rebels.

While there are no accurate figures, Syria's 13-year multifaceted conflict is thought to have killed over half a million people and displaced about half of the country’s pre-war population. Syria's infrastructure and economy are also in ruins.

Most of the casualties were caused by regime bombardment of civilian areas.

The regime’s brutal suppression of a pro-democracy uprising that erupted in March 2011 later triggered a full-scale civil war that drew in foreign armies and international Islamist militants.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has gradually clawed back territory lost early in the fighting with help from allies Iran and Russia, but large swathes of the north remain outside his control.