Woman killed, five people injured in Russian bombing of Syria's Idlib province

One woman was killed and five other people injured on Friday when Russian war planes bombed rebel-held Idlib province in northwestern Syria, two days after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The New Arab’s affiliate Syria TV reported that Russian planes bombed a refugee camp near the village of Batenta north of Idlib city, killing a 60-year old woman and injuring another woman and a child.

More Russian and Syrian regime bombs also landed on the city of Jisr al-Shughour, injuring two more women. A child was also injured when Syrian regime and Russian planes bombed the village of Umm Al-Rish in western Idlib province.

Several other towns and villages in rebel-held northwestern Syria were bombed with no reports of casualties.

The bombardment was denounced by Mark Cutts, the UN’s Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, who said on Twitter: “I condemn these attacks on innocent civilians. Civilians are #NotATarget”.

#Syria: A 60-year-old woman was killed & two others (a woman & child) injured when tents belonging to displaced people were hit during heavy bombardment by Syrian government forces in Idlib today.

I condemn these attacks on innocent civilians. Civilians are #NotATarget pic.twitter.com/SjqZRaeOuz

— Mark Cutts (@MarkCutts) October 1, 2021

The Syrian First Response Coordinators group, a humanitarian organization, had previously warned that Russia could step up bombing of Idlib province, following statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov calling Idlib province a “terrorist area”.

In March 2020, Turkey, which supports Syrian rebels, and Russia, which backs the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, agreed on a ceasefire in Idlib province, but it is frequently violated by Russia and the regime.

On Wednesday, Russian President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan held talks in the Russian city of Sochi which were primarily focused on Syria and were described as “useful and informative” by Erdogan.

However, a Russian statement said that the two sides had agreed to push “terrorists” out of Idlib.