UPDATE – Syria: Russian airstrikes kill civilian, wound 2 others

UPDATES WITH TWEETS BY TURKEY'S NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY; REVISES DECK

By Mehmet Burak Karacaoglu and Ahmet Karaahmet

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – At least one civilian was killed and two others injured on Sunday in airstrikes by Russian jets in northwestern Syria.

The attack, which an opposition plane observatory claimed was carried by Russia, targeted an area near the M4 highway in the Bab al-Hawa border crossing area between the town of Sarmada in Idlib province on the Syrian side and Reyhanli district of Hatay province in southern Turkey.

A cylinder-filling facility near the crossing was hit in the strikes, as well as trucks carrying commercial materials, areas near to the warehouse of a local humanitarian aid association, mountainous areas and a village on the highway in the south of Idlib.

Meanwhile, according to the observatory, a ballistic missile launched from the Mediterranean Sea landed near the Syrian National Army headquarters located in the village of Qah, 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Idlib's border with Turkey.

Following the attacks, defense teams in Idlib started efforts to extinguish the ensuing fires.

Earlier in the day, at least six civilians, including a child and a woman, were killed and 15 others injured in an attack by the Bashar al-Assad regime forces and Iran-backed terror groups in Idlib.

Following the latest attacks, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said on Twitter: "The Assad regime which previously struck a hospital in al-Atarib, now hit the residential area of ​​Kah [Qah] in the Idlib de-esc zone & a truck and trailer park near Sarmada with missiles. While many farm animals perished in Kah, 7 civilians were injured in the truck&trailer park."

In the wake of the strikes, the ministry forwarded a statement to the Russian side for the "immediate cessation of the attacks," added the statement.

"Our troops have been alerted. Developments are being followed."

Idlib is the site of a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia. The area has been the subject of multiple cease-fire understandings, which have frequently been violated by the Assad regime and its allies.

Syria has been embroiled in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

More than 5 million civilians have since been displaced.

*Writing by Sena Guler

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