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Syria war: Explosion and air strikes in rebel-held Idlib 'kill 40' | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
At least 40 people have reportedly been killed in an explosion and a series of air strikes across the rebel-held north Syrian province of Idlib. | |
The blast, on Sunday night outside the headquarters of the Islamist rebel faction Ajnad al-Qawqaz in the city of Idlib, left 25 people dead. | |
The cause was not clear but many believed a car bomb was responsible. | |
Activists say another 15 people were killed in Syrian government and Russian air strikes elsewhere on Sunday. | |
The attacks came as the Syrian military announced they had recaptured the strategically important town of Sinjar in south-eastern Idlib. | |
Troops are advancing towards Abu al-Zuhour airbase, about 14km (nine miles) away, which rebels captured when they seized control of most of the province in 2015. | |
The large explosion in the centre of the provincial capital damaged several buildings and destroyed vehicles parked on Thalatheen Street. | |
The Syria Civil Defence, whose rescue workers are known as the White Helmets, says four children and 11 women were among the 25 people killed. | |
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, put the death toll at 34, including 19 civilians. Other fatalities are believed to have been members of Ajnad al-Qawqaz, it said. | |
In the rebel faction are many foreign fighters from the Caucasus and Russia and it is allied with Hayat Tahir al-Sham, a jihadist force linked to al-Qaeda. | |
The Syrian Observatory attributed the explosion to a car bomb or drone strike. | |
Rebel-held areas outside the city were also reportedly subjected to deadly air strikes on Sunday: | |
Air strikes reportedly continued across Idlib on Monday. Jarjanaz was targeted again, along with the town of Saraqeb, the Edlib Media Center says. | |
Idlib, which borders Turkey to the north, is home to an estimated 2.5 million people, including one million who have fled other rebel-held parts of Syria in recent years. | |
The UN says fighting and air strikes inside Idlib have forced more than 60,000 people to leave their homes since 1 November, and that they are in a "dire" situation. |