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>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>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.</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 >> 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>This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, shows Civil Defense workers and Syrian citizens inspecting damaged buildings after airstrikes hit Maarat al-Nuaman town, in Idlib province, Syria, Saturday, March 25, 2017. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

BEIRUT (AP) — Airstrikes hit a women's prison and a clinic in rebel-held parts of Syria on Saturday, killing and wounding scores of people amid clashes on multiple fronts between government forces and insurgent groups in some of the country's worst violence in weeks, opposition activists said.

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 U.N. Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said in a statement released in Geneva that he is deeply concerned by the recent escalation of violence in Syria, highlighting that it undermines a Dec. 30 cease-fire brokered by Turkey, Iran and Russia who back opposing parties in the conflict.

The statement said de Mistura had communicated with the foreign ministers of the three countries, appealing to them to exert urgent efforts to uphold the cease-fire.

Speaking after meeting on Saturday with the U.N. envoy in Geneva as part of a fresh round of Syrian peace talks, Nasr al-Hariri, the head of the main opposition delegation, lashed out at Assad's "killing machine" and both named, and showed photos of some of the victims — including some featuring graphic imagery.

"This is the fault of warplanes," he told reporters. "These are the ones who claim to fight terrorism who are responsible for this horrible massacre in Hamouna."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes on Hamouriyeh 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>The source declined to comment on the situation in Idlib, citing security considerations, but a monitoring group has confirmed the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and allies now control Idlib and said the Syrian air force bombed the city on Monday.

The fall of Idlib, 30 km (20 miles) from the Turkish border, marks only the second time in the Syrian civil war that Damascus has lost control of a provincial capital. The first was Raqqa, which the ultra-radical Islamic State group has turned into the de facto capital of its self-declared caliphate.

Echoing more general comments by President Bashar al-Assad, the military source accused both Turkey and Jordan of supporting the insurgents in their Idlib offensive, saying they were "leading operations and planning them". The insurgents were using advanced communication apparatus that had been supplied to them via Turkey, the source added.

Turkey is one of the regional states most hostile to Assad, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In an interview with the U.S. network CBS, Assad described Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as a "Muslim Brotherhood fanatic" who was directly supporting insurgents "logistically and militarily" daily.

Syria's government has not commented on the fall of Idlib, though the pro-government Watan newspaper published in Damascus reported on Monday that the Nusra Front and its allies had raised the al Qaeda flag over government buildings in the city.

Nusra Front was joined by groups including the hardline Ahrar al-Sham in seizing Idlib on Saturday, a reminder of the pressures facing Damascus after more than four years of crisis.

The Islamist alliance rejected a call by the Turkish-based mainstream political opposition to let an interim government set up its headquarters in Idlib, saying it would ruled by those "in the trenches and not in hotels".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the monitoring group, said warplanes staged a number of raids on Idlib. More than 170 people on both sides were killed in the fighting, including at least 126 Syrian insurgents, the Observatory said.

The setback for Assad in Idlib coincides with growing tension over Yemen between Saudi Arabia and Iran, one of Assad's firmest backers. Turkey has come out in support of a Saudi-led military intervention against Iranian-allied Houthis in Yemen.

The Syrian conflict, in which an estimated 220,000 people have been killed, has been a major arena for Iranian-Saudi rivalry.

The Nusra Front's influence in northwestern Syria has been expanding at the expense of mainstream rebel groups, some of which received U.S. military support. It is a rival of Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot that has seized territory in both Syria and Iraq.

Ahrar al-Sham issued a statement urging the people of Idlib to help fighters run the city and saying they were not seeking to set up an Islamic emirate.

"There was an agreement by all factions to protect and ensure that essential services are continued," said an Ahrar al-Sham fighter who said he was speaking from Idlib during an interview conducted via the internet. He did not give his name.

But there are many questions over how groups that won Idlib in a joint operation will run the city.

"The rebels have certainly shown they can cooperate on the battlefield - that is not new - but the governance question has been much more difficult for them, particularly in the north, and particularly in Idlib province where Nusra has been asserting unilateral dominance," said Noah Bonsey, a senior analyst with International Crisis Group.

Mainstream rebel groups fighting Assad in southern Syria say they recently received increased support from his foreign enemies in response to a government offensive there.

Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said the death toll among Syrian government forces and personnel was much lower than among insurgents. An opposition activist in the area said the government had withdrawn personnel and anything sensitive to the state in apparent anticipation of losing the city.</s>An alliance of Syrian Islamist rebels including al Qaeda's official wing said they had launched an offensive on Tuesday to take the northwestern city of Idlib, which is close to the main strategic highway linking Damascus to Aleppo.

Districts of Idlib city, where more than 100,000 people live, have been controlled by both the army and insurgents since the crisis started four years ago. The army now controls urban areas and rebels are stationed outside the city.

A joint statement by insurgent groups including al-Qaeda's Nusra Front and the powerful Ahrar al-Sham movement said they would take the provincial capital.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, which tracks the violence from Britain, said the alliance had launched attacks on several areas of Idlib including army outposts but had not yet breached the edge of the city.

Syrian state television said the army had attacked militants in Idlib province but did not say there was an offensive to take the city. Islamic State, the most powerful anti-government militia, was not involved in the clashes.

Syria slid into civil war after a crackdown on peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011. The United Nations says more than 220,000 people have been killed.</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>The Syrian military has been completely driven out of the northwestern province of Idlib after a military air base fell to insurgents who control the surrounding area, a group monitoring the war said on Wednesday.

Members of a local pro-government militia still remain in two Shi'ite villages in the province but the army itself has withdrawn, said Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
At least 16 people are killed by multiple airstrikes on a prison in Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.