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Thirty Killed in Syrian Strikes on Damascan Suburb Town | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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A civil defence member carries an injured woman in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria January 9, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi


Thirty Killed in Syrian Strikes on Damascan Suburb Town

by | Jul 2, 2016 | Middle East |

Thirty Killed in Syrian Strikes on Damascan Suburb Town

Thirty civilians were killed on Saturday in intensive Syrian air strikes on a Damascan suburb town northeast of the city a day after the reported execution of a Syrian air force pilot, a monitor and rebels said.

The raids targeted a medical center, a school and a residential area in Jayrud town, rebels said.

Jayrud is a heavily populated area that struck a local truce with the army that had saved it from the heavy bombing on other rebel held areas. It had made it a sanctuary for thousands of civilians fleeing heavy battles nearby.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said scores were also injured in the aerial strikes as well as shelling from army posts in the area.

A rebel spokesman said the strikes seemed to be in retaliation for the killing of a Syrian air force pilot who parachuted down near the town after his plane crashed on Friday.

“The strikes against civilians are in retaliation against the execution of the pilot by Nusra Front,” said Said Seif al Qalamoni from the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) Shahid Ahmad Abdo brigade that operates in Jayrud alongside the al Qaeda’s Nusra Front and other groups.

Rebels in a joint operations room targeted a main army base in the region with Russian-made surface to surface missiles after the aerial strikes, al Qalamoni said.

Syrian state media said the crash was due to a technical fault and the pilot had ejected, while the rebel group Jaish al-Islam said it had shot down the plane, but did not say how.

Jaish al Islam said the pilot was arrested and was subsequently killed by a fighter from the Nusra Front while being held at a joint command center.

The army had warned of a strong response after the execution of the pilot was reported shortly after he was shown on a rebel video circulated on social media giving details of his mission.

Separately, Russian and Syrian planes intensified their bombing on Saturday of a strategic rebel-held area of Aleppo that is near the only route into opposition-held parts of the northern city. If the Malah area were to fall to the army and its allies they would succeed in laying siege to areas where over 400,000 people live under rebel control.