Rebel town pounded world failing Syria, UN says

Syrian White Helmet civil defense workers and civilians carry an injured man on a stretcher after an airstrike hit the northern town of Ariha. Photo / AP

A Syrian government airstrike hit a busy open-air market in the country's northwest yesterday, killing at least 11 people — most of them children — according to activists.

The town of Ariha has been targeted during the past week as the government escalates its offensive against the country's last rebel stronghold.

Ariha is one of the main towns in Idlib province, which along with the surrounding rural areas of Hama province, are home to 3 million people.

Separately, local doctors said two medics and an ambulance driver were killed when an airstrike targeted their vehicle in Kfar Zita, a town on the frontline in Hama province.

In the Syrian government's airstrike campaign, backed by ally Russia, warplanes have targeted medical centres, water plants and residential areas, in what the United Nations and rights groups call a deliberate campaign that amounts to war crimes.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the world's most powerful nations were failing to show leadership in dealing with the Syrian crisis "resulting in a tragedy on such a vast scale that we no longer seem to be able to relate to it at all".

According to her office, at least 450 civilians were killed since the offensive began in April 30, including more than 100 in the past 10 days alone.

- AP