Russian airstrikes kill 8, injure 80 in N Syria

By Halit Suleyman and Ayse Aktas

IDLIB, Syria

At least eight civilians were killed and 80 others were injured in an airstrike by Russian warplanes Monday in Syria’s western province of Idlib, according to a local civil defense source.

Omer Ulvan, a civil defense official in Idlib told Anadolu Agency that the airstrikes took place in Idlib's northern opposition-held villages.

"Five people were killed and 80 others injured," he said.

Ulvan added Russian warplanes had struck a council building in one of the villages.

Last Tuesday, Russian and Syrian warplanes ceased striking Aleppo in the run-up to an eight-hour "humanitarian pause" slated for Thursday to allow aid to be delivered and civilians to leave.

Amid growing international pressure, Russia on Wednesday extended the pause to 11 hours, while urging civilians to leave the city, warning that a new offensive would begin once the brief pause expired.

Hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed or injured in Russian and Syrian airstrikes since Sept. 19, when the Bashar al-Assad regime announced the end of a weeklong truce.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the 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 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-torn country, according to UN figures.