Idlib bombed amid rebel advances in Aleppo

Videos released by the Syrian volunteer group, the White Helmets showed blown out buildings and vehicles in a residential area of Idlib city where they evacuated injured people into ambulances.

The images come on the day Syrian army sources said Russian and Syrian jets struck the rebel-held city of Idlib in the second day of intensive bombing in northern Syria aimed at pushing back insurgents who had swept through to the city of Aleppo.

At least four people were killed and dozens injured, according to rescuers at the scene.

Residents said one of the raids hit a crowded residential area in the center of Idlib, which is the largest city in a rebel enclave near the Turkish border where around four million people live in makeshift tents and dwellings.

Russian and Syrian jets bombed other towns in Idlib province, which had fallen completely under rebel control in the boldest rebel assault for years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.

Insurgents swept into the city of Aleppo, east of Idlib province forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years.

The Syrian army said dozens of its soldiers had been killed in the attack.

Meanwhile Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who vowed to crush insurgents who had swept into the city of Aleppo whilst Russian and Syrian jets struck the rebel-held city of Idlib in northern Syria.

Araqchi described the situation in Syria as "difficult" but said Iran, a Syria government ally, was confident Assad's government will overcome the rebels as it has done in the past, state media reported.

The army said it had recaptured several towns that had been overrun in recent days by rebels. The insurgents are a coalition of Turkey-backed mainstream secular armed groups along with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist group that is the opposition's most formidable military force.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is designated a terrorist group by the U.S., Russia, Turkey and other states.