Russia steps up airstrikes on vital facilities near Syria-Turkey border
Russian warplanes bombed areas near the Turkish border in Idlib, targeting oil and household gas stations coming from Turkey to Idlib.
IDLIB, Syria — Leaders of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) told Al-Monitor that a ballistic missile, launched from the Russian Khmeimim base in Latakia on March 21, landed near the Atma camp in the town of Qah, in Idlib province along the border with Turkey. The airstrike, which was seen by civilian eyewitnesses who spoke to Al-Monitor, killed livestock and injured a shepherd, who later died from his injuries.
The FSA sources said that Russian warplanes also launched a series of missiles that targeted the old customs office at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, commercial shipping carriers and a factory for manufacturing household gas canisters. The airstrikes caused a huge fire, which burnt nearby cars and killed a civilian, they said.
Hours before the Russian airstrikes March 21, Syrian government forces bombed al-Maghara Hospital in the city of Atarib in the western countryside of Aleppo, killing and injuring several civilians and rendering the hospital out of service.
Sources in the Idlib Health Directorate told Al-Monitor that the regime's bombing of the hospital killed seven civilians and injured 13 others. Among the injured, the sources noted, was the director of health in the opposition-held areas in the countryside of Aleppo, Nawar Kurdiya, who lost an eye.
