A Syrian monitor says at least 16 people have died in airstrikes on a prison in northwestern Syria.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Saturday said prisoners and staff were killed in the strikes in the rebel-held city of Idlib.

The Observatory says it has received reports that some of those killed were fleeing after the airstrikes and were shot by prison staff members.

Idlib is an opposition stronghold where Russian warplanes have been known to carry out strikes in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Since 2011, the conflict in Syria has killed 400,000 people, wounded more than 1 million and displaced half the country's population. </s> BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian opposition activists say airstrikes have struck the northwestern rebel-held city of Idlib, inflicting casualties.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the Friday night attack struck a prison run by militants, killing at least 16 people including prisoners and prison employees. It added that women were among the dead as well.

The group, which has a network of activists around the country, said some people were killed by gunfire as prison guards chased some detainees who tried to flee after the attack.

The Local Coordination Committees, another opposition activist group, said five air raids struck the city without giving further details.

Idlib is a stronghold of Syrian insurgent groups and is regularly targeted by Syrian and Russian warplanes. </s> At least 16 people have been killed overnight in air strikes on a prison in Syria's rebel-held Idlib Province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group says.

The observatory said on March 25 the dead included both prisoners and staff.

Syrian government forces have been heavily bombarding insurgents in Idlib, which is one of the most important strongholds of rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

Parts of the northwestern province are controlled by Turkey-backed rebels, including the Free Syrian Army, while other areas are dominated by hard-line groups.

The provincial capital of the same name is mostly held by rebels led by the Al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

Idlib has regularly been targeted by both Russian and government air strikes as well as raids launched by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State extremist group.

Russia, a major ally of the Syrian government, has carried out an air campaign in Syria since September 2015.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began six years ago with antigovernment protests.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and dpa </s> BEIRUT >> Warplanes struck rebel-held parts of Syria Saturday hitting a women’s prison and a clinic, killing and wounding scores of people, amid clashes on multiple fronts between government forces and insurgent groups in some of the worst violence the country has witnessed in weeks, opposition activists said Saturday.

The airstrikes, of which some activists said included Russian air raids, concentrated on the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, the central province of Hama and suburbs of the capital Damascus that have come under attack by insurgent groups over the past week.

One of the airstrikes hit a main street in the Damascus suburb of Hamouriyeh killing at least 16 people and wounded more than 50, activists said. The airstrikes caused wide destruction in the area.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes killed 16, including eight women and children, and wounded more than 50. The Local Coordination said 18 were killed and dozens were wounded.

Both groups said some people are still missing, and that the death toll could rise.

“They have been hitting Hamouriyeh for days but today they struck an area packed with civilians,” said Awis al-Shami of The Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets, via text message.

The airstrikes come as insurgent groups have been on the offensive in Damascus and the central province of Hama for the past days. Government forces and their allies launched a counteroffensive capturing some of the areas they lost in Damascus and Hama.

Opposition activists also reported airstrikes in Idlib province hitting several towns and villages as well as the provincial capital the carries the same name.

The Observatory said a Friday night attack struck a prison run by militants, killing at least 16 people including prisoners and prison staff in Idlib city. It added that women were among the dead as well.

The monitoring group, which has a network of activists around the country, said some people were killed by gunfire as prison guards chased detainees who tried to flee after the attack.

The Syrian National Coalition, one of the largest opposition groups, said the airstrikes on Idlib targeted among other things a women’s prison, saying that dozens of people were killed or wounded.

The Observatory and the Syrian Civil Defense group, also known as the White Helmets, said an airstrike struck a clinic in the village of Kfar Nubul in Idlib province. They had no immediate word on casualties.

The Local Coordination Committees said five air raids struck the city of Idlib without giving further details.

Idlib is a stronghold of Syrian insurgent groups and is regularly targeted by Syrian and Russian warplanes.

In the central province of Hama, Syrian government forces and their allies launched a counteroffensive, capturing some of the areas they lost in an attack by insurgents earlier this week.

The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media said Saturday that government forces regained control of the village of Kawkab and repelled an attack on the town of Qamhana.

The Observatory reported intense clashes in the area adding that, under the pressure of shelling and airstrikes, insurgents had to withdraw from some recently gained areas.

On Wednesday, insurgents advanced to within a few kilometers of the government-held city of Hama in their new offensive spearheaded by an al-Qaida-linked group.

The fighting forced thousands of civilians to flee the area, according to international aid groups. </s> BEIRUT — At least 16 people were killed overnight in air strikes on a prison in the rebel-held city of Idlib in northwest Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Saturday.

It said the dead included prisoners and prison guards, but did not have an immediate breakdown of the toll.

The strikes were believed to have been carried out by Russian warplanes, which have been flying sorties in support of President Bashar Assad’s government since Moscow began a military intervention in September 2015.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.

It added that guards opened fire in the aftermath of the strike on fleeing prisoners, and there were initial reports of additional casualties in that fire.

Idlib city became the second provincial capital to fall from government control when it was captured in March 2015 by the Army of Conquest, an alliance led by former al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front, later known as Fateh al-Sham.

Almost all the province remains under opposition control, and it has regularly been targeted by both Russian and government air strikes as well as raids launched by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

Earlier this month, the US-led coalition said it was investigating allegations at least 42 people were killed in a raid it carried out in Idlib province.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began six years ago with anti-government protests.

A cessation of hostilities was brokered by rebel backer Turkey and regime ally Russia in December, but violence has continued across much of the country. </s> BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists say Russian and Syrian aircraft have stepped up their assaults on the rebel-held province of Idlib, a day after air raids killed more than 60 people.

The activist-run Local Coordination Committees is reporting airstrikes on the towns of Binnish, Maarat Nasaan, and Saraqib, as well as the provincial capital, Idlib.

The network says the Monday morning airstrikes killed three children. It blamed the attacks on Russian aircraft.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported strikes on Idlib city. It says 288 civilians have been killed in the province since Oct. 20, when Syrian government and Russian aircraft intensified airstrikes.

The Syrian Civil Defense first responder group said 65 civilians were killed in Sunday airstrikes across the province, including attacks on two rural marketplaces that killed dozens. </s> BEIRUT (AP) — Airstrikes in Syria killed 17 people, mostly children today when warplanes struck a school complex in the northern rebel-held province of Idlib, activists said.

The Idlib News network said the strikes hit as the children were gathered outside the school complex in the village of Hass. The activist-operated group put the death toll at 17, and said most of the victims were children.

There were fears the death toll could rise further as some of the wounded were reported to be in critical condition, the network added. Another activist group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 22. It said 14 children and a woman were among those killed.

Idlib is the main Syrian opposition stronghold, though radical groups also have a large presence there. It has regularly been hit by Syrian and Russian warplanes as well as the U.S.-led coalition targeting Islamic State militants.

Footage posted by activists on line shows a huge plume of smoke rising from the area of the strikes. Rescuers are seen rushing casualties away along a dusty road lined with destroyed buildings.

A woman's body is seen being carried on a stretcher while other bodies, covered in cloth and one with only a hat, are lying under shrubs in what could possibly have been a garden among the buildings. Other casualties are seen being ferried in pickup trucks. </s> In Syria, at least 10 civilians were killed in air strikes and shelling by regime forces in Idlib province.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two children were among six people killed in the strikes on the town of Kafr Aweid. Another civilian died in shelling on the northern Hama countryside.

According to the Monitor, a woman and her two children were also killed during airstrikes that hit a motorcycle in the town of Maaret al-Numan. </s> At least 16 people died after a Friday night air strike on a prison in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province including both prisoners and staff, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Saturday.

Idlib is one of the most important strongholds of rebels, including jihadist factions, who seek to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, whose air force, along with that of his ally Russia, has been heavily bombarding insurgents there.

The Observatory said it had received information that some of those who died were shot dead while attempting to flee the prison after the air strike hit one side of it. Two jailers were among the 16 people killed.

The population of Idlib, located in northwest Syria, has been swelled by refugees including many of those who have left rebel-held enclaves elsewhere in the country after the army and its allies forced them to surrender.

While parts of Idlib are controlled by Turkey-backed rebels, including factions who fight under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, other areas are dominated by the hardline Islamist Ahrar al-Sham and others by the Tahrir al-Sham jihadist alliance.

Tahrir al-Sham's strongest component is the former Nusra Front group which was al Qaeda's official branch in Syria until last year when it broke formal ties with the global movement.
At least 16 people are killed by multiple airstrikes on a prison in Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.