Ten civilians killed after Syria regime bombers targeted packed vegetable market

Syrian regime bombing of a packed marketplace in Idlib on Monday killed ten civilians and injured more than a dozen shoppers, a monitor has reported, adding to the mounting casualties in the opposition province.

The attacks on the vegetable market in Maarat al-Numan happened after fierce clashes had taken place between regime and rebel forces in northwest Syria.

It was some of the most intense fighting between the two sides in months, with a ceasefire covering Idlib rapidly disintegrating following massive Russian and regime airstrikes on towns in the northwest Syrian province.

The Syrian regime have frequently targeted markets in opposition areas during the war with devastating affect.

Dozens of civilians were killed earlier this year when Syrian regime and Russian air raids targeted the same vegetable market.

In 2017, 84 people were killed when an Idlib marketplace and police station were hit by Russian or regime bombers.

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On Monday, the fighting that had taken place over the weekend between rebel and regime fighters in Idlib province continued.

"Fighting raged at dawn Monday on several axes in the southeastern Idlib countryside," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Fifty-one regime fighters were killed in two days of fighting, while 45 opposition and jihadi fighters lost their lives.

A ceasefire was announced in August, after a Russia-backed regime offensive killed around 1,000 civilians and ousted hundreds of thousands from their homes.