A White Helmets civil defense worker takes a break after several hours of rescue efforts following a Russian airstrike on a civilian industrial facility in Idlib Province, October 16, 2024 (Abdulkarem al-Mohammad)
Russia has killed 10 civilians and injured 32 in airstrikes on opposition-held Idlib Province in northwest Syria.
The White Helmets civil defense posted video of the rescue and recovery effort:
Difficult moments as our teams recovered the bodies of workers killed by Russian warplanes in airstrikes targeting a furniture workshop on the outskirts of #Idlib, on Wednesday, October 16. 10 civilians were killed and 32 others were injured in the attack.#WhiteHelmets #Syria pic.twitter.com/ZvyMFqxc2w
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) October 17, 2024
The attacked sites included a furniture workshop, a sawmill, and an olive press. A child is reportedly among those slain, and 14 among the wounded.
The Russian Defense Ministry made no comment on the aristrikes.
Opposition groups took control of much of northwest Syria in 2015, amid the uprising against Syria’s Assad regime. Russia’s military intervention enabled the regime, at the cost of tens of thousands of civilian deaths, to retake Syria’s largest city Aleppo, most of Aleppo Province, all of Hama Province, and about half of Idlib.
The opposition area of Idlib is protected to an extent by Turkish support. However, in spite of a March 2020 ceasefire agreed by Russia and Turkey, the regime and Moscow periodically attack both insurgent groups and civilian sites.
Our teams rescued a civilian man from under the rubble of a furniture manufacturing workshop that was targeted by Russian warplanes in airstrikes today, Wednesday, October 16.#WhiteHelmets #Syria pic.twitter.com/vohPlpovd0
— The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) October 16, 2024