As Geneva Talks failed, Syrian regime forces strike Idlib city, kill over 30

At least 33 people reported killed and 47 others wounded in air strikes targeting market blamed on ‘regime warplanes’ in Maarrat al-Numan

At least 33 civilians were reported killed and dozens more injured on Tuesday as suspected Syrian government air strikes targeted the northern Idlib province, a Syrian civil defence official told Anadolu Agency.

According to Omar Alwan, a civil defense official based in Maarat al-Numan, 28 people were killed and another 33 injured when a Syrian warplane struck a marketplace in Maarat al-Numan.

The same warplane, Alwan said, also targeted a residential area of the nearby town of Kafranbel, leaving five people dead and 12 wounded.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting that at least 44 people were killed in both attacks.

In Kafranbel, Raed Fares, a local activist, said 10 people had been killed in the town’s public square. As many as 50 people were wounded and four houses were also destroyed, he added.

“It was very busy,” Fares said of the square on Tuesday before the strike.

Since the start of the war, the square is the site where anti-government activists have gained wide-spread attention for raising banners and posters with messages to world leaders and the UN among others.

“Nobody knows who’s turn it is [to be killed] anymore,” Fares said.

Warning: This video contains disturbing footage.

As Fares talked to MEE, he said that military planes were still in the sky.

Video of the aftermath of the attack in Maarat Al-Numan was published on YouTube by the local Baladi News activist group showed scenes of lifeless bodies strewn on the streets, with debris everywhere.

Airstrike in Mara Numan fruit market (again). Dozens killed & injured against Geneva "peace talks" backdrop pic.twitter.com/EOpwVcT8yD

— Bilal Abdul Kareem (@BilalKareem) April 19, 2016

The latest air strikes come after the Syrian government’s chief negotiator said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s future was not up for discussion at peace talks currently taking place in Geneva.

“This matter (the presidency) does not fall under the jurisdiction of Geneva,” Bashar Ja’afari said. “This is a Syrian-Syrian affair, Security Council or no Security Council.”

Regime warplanes have just struck a vegetable market in Maarit Anuman, killing and injuring dozens of civilians. pic.twitter.com/YJvuwgpC1E

— هادي العبدالله Hadi (@HadiAlabdallah) April 19, 2016

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