15 civilians killed by airstrikes in northwestern Syria

By Mohamed Misto

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - At least 15 civilians were killed early Tuesday by airstrikes carried out in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, according Anadolu Agency correspondents near the scene of the attacks.

The strikes took place in Idlib’s village of Dweila, while a hospital in the nearby town of Kafr Takharim was also targeted, correspondents said.

While no casualties were reported as a result of the latter attack, the hospital reportedly sustained severe damage, rendering it largely inoperable.

It remains unclear who carried out Tuesday’s airstrikes.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Iran -- along with Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah militia -- has supported the Assad regime. In 2015, Russia formally entered the conflict, providing regime forces with extensive air support.

Several rounds of peace talks, both in Geneva and Kazakh capital Astana, have so far failed to end the conflict, in which hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians are believed to have been killed to date.