Air raids on market kill 53 in north Syria town: monitor
Beirut, Nov 14 (AFP) Air strikes on a market killed atleast 53 people, including children, in a town in northernSyria despite a "de-escalation zone" in place there, a monitorsaid.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rightssaid it was not immediately clear whether the strikes onrebel-held Atareb yesterday had been carried out by Syrianwarplanes, or those of Damascus's ally Russia.
The monitor said three strikes hit the town's market,adding that five children were among the dead, as well asthree policemen.
A photographer contributing to AFP saw massivedestruction at the scene, with rubble from damaged buildingscovering the street and panicked civilians carrying away theinjured.
Three men helped one of those hit in the attack, his facedrenched in blood and his features almost completely obscured.
Nearby, the body of a man in a blue shirt and darktrousers lay where he had died.
Civil defence workers rushed alongside civilians toevacuate the injured, with one man in a thick beanie hatcarrying a wailing child in a pink sweater away from thescene.
Elsewhere, the bodies of at least three children werelaid out on the ground, partly covered by thick bolts offabric.
Atareb is in the west of Aleppo province, in an area thatis part of a "de-escalation zone" agreed under a deal earlierthis year between Syria's allies Russia and Iran, and rebelbacker Turkey.
The zone mostly covers neighbouring Idlib province, whichis largely held by opposition forces and a jihadist groupformerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
Despite the government's recapture of Aleppo city latelast year, rebel groups maintain a presence in the west of theprovince.
Russia, a key ally of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad,began a bombing campaign in support of his government in 2015.
Since then, with Moscow's support the government hasrecaptured large swathes of territory from opposition forces.
Moscow has steered the so-called Astana process that inMay led to a deal to create four so-called "de-escalationzones" across Syria.
The zones have produced a drop in violence, but sporadicfighting and bombardment has continued, and promisedhumanitarian access has not materialised.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria sincethe conflict began in March 2011 with anti-governmentprotests. (AFP)AJR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.