Fighting between Syrian regime forces and al-Qaeda affiliated militants and their allies yesterday left more than 70 people dead south of the key battleground city of Aleppo, a monitor said, as airstrikes killed at least 28 civilians in a camp for the displaced near the country’s northern border with Turkey.
Al-Nusra Front and allied militants seized Khan Tuman — about 10km southwest of Aleppo — and surrounding villages after less than 24 hours of clashes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“At least 43 al-Nusra and allied fighters, including a local commander, and 30 on the side of the regime and allied militia were killed in the battle,” said the British-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria.
Photo: Reuters
Pro-regime troops had driven the militants out of Khan Tuman in December last year.
“The recapture of the area and surrounding villages means that the regime’s lines of defense south of the country’s second city have been pushed back,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Meanwhile, a 48-hour truce in Aleppo between the Syrian regime and non-militant rebels yesterday appeared to be holding as it entered its second day.
The truce came after fierce violence in and around Aleppo and was made possible as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and rebel forces gave in to mounting diplomatic pressure for a pause.
However, as relieved civilians went out onto the streets after two weeks of heavy fighting in the divided city, a key battleground in Syria’s five-year civil war, others were attacked further west.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said airstrikes struck the camp for internally displaced people near Sarmada, in Idlib Province, which is controlled by al-Nusra Front.
Rahman said that women and children were among 28 civilians killed, while 50 others were wounded.
Mamun al-Khatib, director of the Aleppo-based pro-rebel Shahba Press news agency, said “regime aircraft” fired missiles on the camp in the village of al-Kammouna.
“Two missiles fell near the camp causing people to panic and two more fell inside where a dozen tents caught fire,” he said.
The US said it has not confirmed if the strikes were carried out by regime forces.
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