Syrian government forces and their Russian allies have launched a series of airstrikes in and around Idlib, the last key opposition stronghold in Syria, a war monitor says.
The attacks came one day after Russia, Iran and Turkey held a summit in Tehran to discuss the fate of Idlib, a rebel-held city where thousands of rebels and their families have been evacuated from different parts of Syria.
A call at the summit for a ceasefire in Idlib, made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who maintain the province is inhabited by "terrorists".
Less than 24 hours later, jets carried out about 90 air raids, marking the most intense bombardment the northwestern province has seen in a month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added.
The attacks focused on opposition-controlled areas in Idlib and the northern countryside of the Hama province, the Britain-based monitor said on Saturday.
A photo shown by the al-Qaida-affiliated Ibaa News Agency, shows smoke rising over buildings that were hit by airstrikes, in al-Sahan village, in Idlib. Source: Ibaa News Agency
At least four civilians, including two children, were killed, according to the watchdog.
A pro-government field commander told German press agency DPA that Russian fighter jets on Saturday bombarded areas in rural Hama, the bastion of a militant Islamist group that mounted on Friday a deadly shelling attack on a nearby Christian village controlled by the government.
"The government forces started their operations in provinces of Idlib, Hama and Aleppo three days ago. Their current plan is being confined to aerial bombardment without a push from ground troops," the commander said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The Russian and Syrian jets targeted the rural countryside of Hama and the southern part of Idlib with more than 100 air raids, in addition to dozens of shells fired by government forces," he added without giving casualty figures.
During Friday's summit, Erdogan said his country would not stand by and watch the loss of civilian lives in Idlib. Turkey supports Syria's rebels, while Russia and Iran are key allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Tehran gathering concluded without agreement, raising fears of an imminent offensive in Idlib.
"If the world turns a blind eye to the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people to further the regime's interests, we will neither watch from the sidelines nor participate in such a game," Erdogan said in a series of tweets late on Friday, hours after the summit ended.
Erdogan said "resorting to methods, which disregard civilian lives, would only play into the hands of terrorists", warning against "any faits accomplis under the pretext of fighting terrorism".
