Syria opposition groups bomb regime positions after shelling kills four children in Idlib

Syrian opposition groups attacked the regime and its allies on Monday evening after shelling by dictator Bashar Al-Assad's forces killed four children in the northwestern Idlib province.

The regime hit the town of Maarat Al-Naasan on Monday morning, killing the children as they travelled to school, despite a ceasefire that has been in place in Idlib for two years.

In response, fighters from the Al-Fateh Al-Mubin operations room struck regime  positions with missiles and artillery fire in several locations around Idlib and neighbouring Aleppo province.

The opposition umbrella group said there had been regime casualties as a direct result of their efforts, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister service, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, reported.

Al-Fateh Al-Mubin includes the National Front for Liberation, Jaysh Al-Izza and the hardline Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which holds large swathes of Idlib and formed out of groups including former Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al-Nusra.

Ansar Al-Tawhid, a jihadist organisation affiliated with Al-Qaeda, said it also attacked a pro-Russia militia camp near Hazarin, a town in southern Idlib, with artillery and missile fire.

There was no information available regarding casualties.

Previous Syrian regime shelling of Maarat Al-Naasan on 12 February left six people, including two children, dead.

Meanwhile, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said a statement was released by HTS rejecting Russian allegations that members of the group were involved in operations within Russia and that 10 members had been arrested there. The group said it exists only in Syria.

HTS said that such claims seek to "justify the flagrant interference and the continuation of the bombing, aggression and targeting of medical facilities and residential communities" in Syria.

The New Arab has contacted the Russian foreign ministry for comment.