The dead include at least eight children, White Helmets Syria Civil Defence says.

This picture taken on March 14, 2019, shows destructions following an air strike in the city of Idlib, northwestern Syria. (AFP)

Syrian regime shelling and Russian air strikes killed at least 15 civilians on Wednesday in Idlib province, in the first such raids since a September truce deal, a monitor said.

At least eight of the casualties were children, White Helmet Syria Civil Defence added.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said around 60 people were also wounded in the air strikes that struck several areas in the northwestern province.

A harrowing search and rescue operation carried out by the #WhiteHelmets in #Idlib City rescued a woman alive. The city was attacked with four air raids resulting in 15 people killed, including 8 children and two women, and 49 people were injured. #Syria pic.twitter.com/dV0jgKcHY5 — The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) March 14, 2019

"Over the past 24 hours Russian aircraft have carried out dozens of raids targeting several regions in Idlib province, including the city of Idlib and the town of Saraqeb," SOHR head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

"These are the first Russian air strikes against the province" since an accord struck by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in September last year.

TRT World's Yasin Eken reports.

In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a demilitarised zone after a meeting between Erdogan and Putin, in Sochi, Russia.

Ankara and Moscow signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the stabilisation of the situation in Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are prohibited.

Idlib has been in the hands of rebels for years, even as Assad's regime has taken back other rebel enclaves.

The province is now home to some three million people, many of them displaced from other areas held by rebels or the opposition.

Source: AFP</s>The death toll in Syria's northwestern Idlib province has risen to 15 following Syrian government forces launched air strikes in the rebel-held area, the Syria Civil Defence said on Thursday.

Along with artillery barrages, Russian warplanes attacked central Idlib and its rural outskirts with four air raids on Wednesday, resulting in the casualties that included eight children, the Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, said.

The attacks, which wounded 49 civilians, targeted the al-Kaseeh neighbourhood, damaging residential buildings, according to the White Helmets, which added that a search-and-rescue operation was under way.

The raids raged in the area of Al-Kaseeh in Idlib's center, causing extensive damage to civilian facilities and residential buildings. #WhiteHelmets #Syria #Idlib pic.twitter.com/7tjOMQyWjf — The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) March 14, 2019

Government air raids have killed at least 138 civilians this year.

Idlib is largely controlled by Hay'et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, which on Thursday vowed to retaliate against the Syrian government forces and their Russian allies.

Government forces have stepped up attacks on the last rebel-held bastion Baghouz since January 2019, despite it being under the so-called "de-escalation zones" aimed at shoring up ceasefires.

Last September, Russia, along with Turkey - which backs opposition groups in Idlib, agreed to create a demilitarised zone that put on hold an offensive on Idlib which was dubbed "dumping ground" for evacuees who fled government offensives in other parts of the country.

The 15-to-20km-wide zone agreed upon by Ankara and Moscow was meant to allow for the "withdrawal of all radical fighters" from Idlib, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the time, referring to HTS, who remain to be the dominant force in the province.

The last rebel-held enclave in Syria is currently home to nearly three million people, half of whom are internally displaced, and encloses what was once a major commercial highway linking Syria to Turkey and Jordan.

Civilians are bracing themselves for an offensive that humanitarian workers worry could drive millions of refugees into neighbouring Turkey, which already hosts more than three million Syrian refugees.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011, when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government cracked down on demonstrators amid a peaceful uprising.

Since the devastating conflict began in 2011, more than 450,000 Syrians have been killed and over six million displaced, according to the United Nations.</s>Russian air strikes killed at least 13 civilians, including six children, Wednesday in Idlib province, in the first such raids since a September truce deal, a monitor said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said around 60 people were also wounded in the air strikes that struck several areas in the northwestern province, which is Syria’s last major rebel bastion.

“Over the past 24 hours Russian aircraft have carried out dozens of raids targeting several regions in Idlib province, including the city of Idlib and the town of Saraqeb,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

“These are the first Russian air strikes against the province” since an accord struck by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in September last year.

The truce deal was meant to stave off a planned offensive by the regime and its Russian backers that aid groups feared could spark the eight-year-old Syrian conflict’s worst humanitarian crisis to date.

Under the deal, opposition backer Turkey would exert its influence over anti-regime groups in the Idlib region to have them pull back fighters and heavy weapons from a demilitarized zone.

The government assault on the last major bastion of rebel forces has been held off but the deal’s provisions have not been implemented. According to Abdel Rahman, a prison in a suburb of Idlib city was hit on Tuesday in the Russian strikes, sparking a jailbreak by dozens of inmates.</s>Washington on Thursday accused Russia and the Syrian government of being responsible for "escalating violence" in rebel-controlled Idlib province.

Russian jets on Wednesday carried out air strikes in Idlib, the first such attacks since a September Turkish-Russian truce deal.

At least 13 civilians, including six infants, were killed in the raids, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor that relies on sources inside Syria.

"The United States views with grave concern escalating violence in recent days in Idlib and neighboring areas prompted by Russian and Assad regime airstrikes and artillery," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Despite Russia's claims to be targeting terrorists, these operations have caused dozens of civilian casualties and have targeted first responders as they attempt to save lives on the ground," he added.

"These abhorrent attacks on civilian infrastructure and on settlements for internally displaced people must end now."

As a party to the September ceasefire agreement with Turkey, "Russia bears full responsibility for these offensive operations," Palladino said.

Idlib is Syria's last major rebel bastion and is mainly controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a Syrian group led by former Al-Qaeda fighters.

The truce deal was meant to stave off a planned offensive by the regime and its Russian backers that aid groups feared could spark the eight-year-old Syrian conflict's worst humanitarian crisis to date.

The government assault has been held off but the deal's provisions have not been implemented.</s>BEIRUT -- While the final battle to retake the Islamic State's last pocket of territory rages in eastern Syria, violence is escalating in the country's northwest, pitting al-Qaida-linked militants against Syrian government forces.

The violence in the Idlib region threatens to unravel a truce reached between Turkey and Russia last year that averted a bloody assault by the government to retake the province, the last major rebel stronghold in war-torn Syria. The escalation raises fears once more of a major assault by the forces of President Bashar Assad.

Idlib has been in the hands of opposition forces for years, even as Assad's military has succeeded in retaking other rebel enclaves one after the other. The province is now home to some 3 million people, many of them displaced from other former opposition territory. Earlier this year, al-Qaida-linked militants took over the province, squeezing out most other factions after clashes with Turkey-backed opposition fighters.

Since then, government forces have intensified airstrikes and bombardment of Idlib towns. Since mid-February, some 100,000 people have been displaced, largely by government bombardment, and have fled to villages deeper in rebel-held territory, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The group said that around 140 people, including 69 civilians, have been killed.

The mounting violence points to how Syria's nearly 8-year-long civil war still has the capability to burst once more into major bloodshed. The focus of the U.S. and other countries has been on defeating the Islamic State, which once held eastern and northern Syria, and Assad's conflict with his opponents has quieted in recent months after government victories and the truce. But the root of that conflict remains.

The militants, from an al-Qaida-linked group called the Levant Liberation Committee, have also stepped up their attacks -- in retaliation, they say, for the government bombardment.

Earlier this month, militants attacked several Syrian army positions and checkpoints on the edge of Idlib in the village of Masasneh, killing nearly two dozen soldiers -- one of the most serious attacks on government forces since the truce reached in September. The attack triggered hours of fighting and bombardment that killed and wounded dozens of insurgents.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry warned afterward that the military was in "full readiness" to deal with repeated violations of the truce.

Russia, which backs Assad, and Turkey, which supports opposition factions, put together the truce in September. They agreed to establish a 9-12 miles-wide demilitarized zone in Idlib in which they said militants will not have a presence. The deal also offered the Syrian government and Russia one of their main demands -- opening two key highways that pass through Idlib and link northern Syria with Damascus and other cities. But neither provision was implemented despite a deadline for opening the roads by the end of 2018.

Still, the truce has been vital to keeping a degree of calm and preventing an all-out battle for Idlib.

The U.S. deputy ambassador at the United Nations, Jonathan Cohen, last month expressed American concern over the increase in government airstrikes and other violence in Idlib.

"Terrorism cannot be used as a pretext for targeting civilians," he said in a reference to the al-Qaida-linked group's control of the area. "Any major military operation in Idlib would be a reckless escalation of the conflict and would result in a humanitarian catastrophe far beyond what we've witnessed."

A Levant Liberation Committee military commander known as Abu Khaled al-Shami released a video statement expressing pride for killing government soldiers and vowing more attacks.

"Hayat Tahrir al-Sham will retaliate forcefully if regime forces try to advance toward liberated areas," he said.

The leaders of Russia and Turkey held another summit in mid-February after which both leaders said there will be no offensive by Syrian government forces on Idlib and promised to work together to prevent the province from becoming a "stronghold of terrorists."

On Friday, Turkey's defense minister said Turkey and Russia will begin patrols in the demilitarized zone in Idlib -- though violence continued over the weekend despite some patrols.</s>Syrian government forces have bombed residential areas in southern Idlib province, the first time the city has been targeted since the de-escalation agreement was reached between Turkey and Russia in 2018.

Attacks in the region have escalated in recent days, as Bashar al-Assad's government intensifies pressure on one of the country's last rebel strongholds.

The death toll from air raids on the city of Idlib on Wednesday rose to 17.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reports from Gaziantep, on Turkey's border with Syria.</s>Turkey and Russia are discussing a "coordination centre" to better manage their operations in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib province, Turkey's defence minister said.

Regime ally Russia and Turkey, which supports rebels, have been on opposite sides in the Syrian war.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin have been working closely to end the fighting. A Russian-Turkish deal for a demilitarised zone last year protected the Idlib rebel bastion.

The two countries and Ankara are already preparing joint patrols around the northwestern Syrian region.

"We are working on a joint coordination centre," Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said after a meeting Wednesdayg, according to a ministry statement on Thursday.

His remarks came as Russian jets carried out air strikes in Idlib on Wednesday, the first such attacks since the Turkish-Russian deal was signed in September as a way to prevent major bloodshed.

At least 13 civilians, including six infants were killed in the raids, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor that relies on sources inside Syria.

Earlier this month, Turkey said its forces and Russians would begin ground patrols around Idlib province as part of their ceasefire deal.

Idlib is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group led by Syria's former al Qaeda affiliate.

HTS in January took control of the administration of Idlib's region where three million people have been protected.

The Russian-Turkish agreement was supposed to see hardline jihadists withdraw from Idlib but they never did.

The ceasefire has held except for sporadic bombardments and skirmishes, avoiding an all-out Syrian military assault.
The SOHR reports that Syrian government shelling and Russian air strikes occur in several areas in Idlib province, in the first such raids since a September truce deal, killing at least 15 civilians including eight children and wounding around 60.