15 people killed in airstrike in northwest Syria, ahead of Moscow summit
At least 15 people, including children, were killed, while several others were wounded in an airstrike on a rebel-held village in northwestern Syria hit a poultry farm where several displaced families were taking shelter early Thursday, killing , opposition activists said.
The activists blamed Russian warplanes for the strike on Maaret Musreen village, which is home to thousands of internally displaced people.
The strike came hours ahead of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the escalation in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, which comes amid a months-long Russian-backed Syrian government offensive there.
The fighting in Idlib — Syria’s last remaining rebel stronghold — has killed hundreds and displaced nearly a million people, many of whom have fled north toward the border with Turkey.
Turkey and Russia are the two main power brokers in Syria and each support rival sides in the nine-year conflict.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday’s airstrike hit a poultry farm used a settlement for internally displaced Syrians, killing 15 people including women and children. It said 18 others were wounded.