Syria: Russian airstrike kills six civilians in Aleppo

By Halit Suleyman

ALEPPO, Syria (AA) – Six civilians were killed on Saturday when Russian warplanes struck a village in Aleppo province in northern Syria, according to local civil defense sources.

Russian jets targeted Abian village in Aleppo’s Atarib district, one of the sources told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

Scores of people were injured in the attack, which also damaged several homes in the village, the source said.

At least 20 people were killed and scores injured in Russian airstrikes in Atarib district on Friday.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million victims have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, puts the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.