First air strike since earthquakes kills two in north-west Syria

No claim of responsibility for the bombing in area devastated by quakes

This picture taken on August 5, 2019 shows smoke billowing above buildings during a reported air strike by pro-regime forces on Khan Sheikhun in the south of the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib. Damascus and Russia resumed air strikes on Idlib in northwest Syria on August 5, a monitor said, scrapping a ceasefire for the jihadist-run bastion and accusing the regime's opponents of targeting a Russian air base. The northwestern region, which hosts some three million people, is one of the last major centres of resistance to President Bashar al-Assad's regime after eight years of war. / AFP / Omar HAJ KADOUR

An air strike killed at least two people in a rebel-held zone in north-west Syria on Friday, local civil defence authorities said, in the first aerial bombing in the area since the devastating earthquakes nearly three weeks ago.

Two unidentified people were hit in the air strike carried out by “an unidentified aerial drone”, the rescue force that operates in opposition-held parts of Syria said.

Local monitors initially reported the air strike but not the casualties, saying it took place near Syria’s border with Turkey.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack.

The Syrian government and its ally Russia have heavily bombarded the zone in the past.

The US has also carried out attacks on targets in the northern part of the country, though this rarely occurs.

More than 5,800 people died in Syria in the February 6 earthquake, the bulk of them in the rebel-held north-west.

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Updated: February 24, 2023, 11:42 PM