A Syrian army aircraft crashed during a bombing run over rebel-held Ariha on Monday, killing at least 31 people and destroying a market, witnesses said.
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Fighting between government forces and an insurgent group called Jaish al Fateh, or Army of Conquest, which includes al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, has intensified in rural Idlib province in recent times, according to Sky News.
The London-based monitoring group said that the crash occurred as regime force bombarded the areas around Abo al-Dohor military airport in Idlib province.
Residents cited by the Observatory said the aircraft crashed near a vegetable market, causing “a huge blast”. He also reported that up to 60 people were injured due to the crash.
Speaking on Monday in Qatar at a meeting with the Gulf Co-operation Council, US Secretary of State John Kerry blamed Mr Assad’s government for Syria’s current militant insurgency, saying the “regime lost legitimacy long ago, in part because of its brutality against the Syrian people themselves”.
There were reports prior to the crash that the warplane in Syria was flying at a very low altitude and it may have had a mechanical failure, according to The Telegraph. “Five of them have not been identified”.
“The warplane fell on the crowded market of Ariha”, activists said, pointing out that the plane was first targeted by Syrian opposition fighters before crashing over Ariha city. The Syrian border shared with Iraq has encountered many intensive battles with the Islamic State. Syria has recently stepped up its defense against the extremist group, ISIL because of growing tension on its border.
The plane had been bombing rebel targets; most of the dead were civilians.
The Damascus regime has relied heavily on its monopoly of air power in Syria’s four-year-old civil war, repeatedly pounding rebel-held towns. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said last week that at least 250,000 Syrians have been killed in the conflict so far.
To date, the coalition has launched more than 5,800 air strikes in both countries.
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The Observatory, which relies on a wide network of activists, medics and fighters throughout war-torn Syria, said the fate of the plane’s crew was unknown.
