Shelling by regime forces kills at least 22 in northwest of Syria

Shelling by the regime forces of rebel-held areas in the northwest of the country has killed 22 civilians in the past 24 hours, a war monitoring group said on Thursday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said the shelling was in different locations and that more than half the dead were under the age of 18.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 12 civilians were killed in Kfar Nabl and one in Maaret al-Numaan - both towns in rural Idlib.

The White Helmet rescue teams, who work only in rebel-held areas, told dpa that widely banned cluster bombs were used in the shelling, a claim that could not be verified by dpa.

Ahmed Sheikho, the head of the White Helmet operations in Idlib, said 27 other people, including children and women, were injured in both areas.

Thursday's death toll has raised to 22 the number of civilians who were killed over the past 24 hours in government attacks on the countryside of Idlib, according to the Observatory.

Violence has escalated in northwestern Syria this year along the frontline between pro-government forces and the largest remaining territory held by Syrian rebel groups.

The area is subject to a ceasefire agreement struck in September between Russia and Turkey to avert a major government offensive to retake the northwest. Moscow is the government's strongest ally and Turkey backs some rebel groups.

The northwest, including Idlib province and parts of Hama and Aleppo provinces, is home to about 3 million people, half of whom have already been internally displaced, the United Nations says.