At least 15 killed in blast in northwestern Syria

At least 15 people were killed on Wednesday in an explosion in the centre of Jisr al Shughour, a city in northwestern Syria, a day after heavy Russian air strikes, rescue workers and residents said.

Several buildings collapsed as a result of the blast which shook the city in Idlib province, near a road between the coastal city of Latakia and city of Aleppo.

"The explosion hit next to the market," killing 13 civilians, including the daughter of a foreign fighter, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

"It is not known until now whether it was a car bomb, or the explosion of a car carrying explosives," he added.

The Idlib region is under administrative control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate.

The city has been a target of bombardment by the Russian air force and the Syrian regime army in recent weeks. Most of its inhabitants have fled to the safety of areas close to the Turkish border, residents and local officials say.

On Tuesday, regime shelling killed seven civilians, including four children, in the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Increased regime shelling on Khan Sheikhoun has sparked one of the largest waves of displacement since the September deal.