Regime bombardment killed 20 civilians including eight children and three rescue workers in jihadist-run northwest Syria Thursday, as fighting killed dozens on the edges of the anti-government bastion. The Idlib region, home to some three million people, is supposed to be protected by a months-old international truce deal, but it has come under increased bombardment by the regime and its Russian ally since late April.
The United Nations has warned that the spike in violence could spark one of the worst humanitarian disasters in Syria's grinding eight-year conflict. A regime air strike targeted an ambulance in the town of Maaret al-Numan, killing three rescue workers inside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
An AFP photographer saw a destroyed ambulance and rescuers carrying a survivor from the vehicle with his arm in shreds.
Syrian charity Benefsej which owned the ambulance said three of its workers had been killed. "It was a direct targeting of the ambulance," said charity member Fouad Issa. A woman also died in the ambulance while she was being transported for treatment, he added. In a statement posted on social media networks, the charity described the attack as a "violation of international humanitarian law".
"Ensuring the protection of humanitarian and health facilities via the international community is a necessity for us to continue our work".
Russia and rebel backer Turkey brokered an agreement in September seeking to stave off an all-out regime assault on Idlib, but the deal was never fully implemented as jihadists refused to withdraw from the planned buffer zone.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, led by ex-members of Al-Qaeda's former Syria affiliate, extended its control over the region, which spans most of Idlib province as well as slivers of the adjacent provinces of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo.
The Syrian government and Russia have upped their bombardment of the region since late April, killing more than 440 civilians, the Britain-based Observatory said. The United Nations says more than 23 hospitals and one ambulance have been hit in the Idlib region since late April.