syria airstrikesNine people were killed after an airstrike hit a crowded vegetable market in the city of Jisr al-Shughur in northwestern Syria, according to some activists and locals.
Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, launched an airstrike on a town held by rebels and Turkish-backed forces near the Turkish border, wounding more than 30 people, the AP reported, citing activists and media reports.
The White Helmets, a civil defense organization in northwestern Syria, said the death toll was likely to rise.
“It was a targeted attack in the main vegetable market where farmers from northern Syria gather,” said Ahmed Yazzi, one of the members of the White Helmets.
The situation was such that farmers were rushing to hospitals in blood-soaked vegetable trucks while activists called for immediate blood donation. Russia and the Syrian government have not yet responded.
Assad’s regime generally attributes such attacks to armed rebel groups in the province.
This occurred as Russia faced a brief insurgency from the Wagner Group of mercenaries led by its chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Subsequently, several videos showed Wagner fighters racing north in convoy, carrying tanks and armored trucks, and capturing the city of Rostov before storming the barricades set up to stop them.
However, Prigozhin announced today that he would halt his campaign to topple Russian rule after signing an apparent deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. He insisted that he wanted to avoid ‘bloodshed’ in the country.