Warplanes kill 10, strike hospital in Syrian offensive

Warplanes struck a town in a rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria, killing at least 10 people, including some who were fleeing the attack, opposition activists and a rescue service said Thursday. The attack, believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes backing a Syrian government offensive, also put a local hospital out of service, they said.

The late Wednesday night assault on Ariha, a town in Idlib province, comes as the rebel-held enclave is under intense fire amid Syrian government advances on the area that had been controlled by the opposition for nearly eight years.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes, believed to be carried out by Russian warplanes, killed at least 10 civilians. The rescue Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, put the death toll at 11, including a child, saying most of them were killed when the Russian warplanes hit a road used by displaced people trying to leave Ariha. Both the Observatory and the White Helmets said a local hospital and a bakery were struck in the attack.