AMMAN: At least 15 people were killed on Tuesday when suspected Russian warplanes struck a crowded market in the rebel-held city of Ariha in the second such strike on a shopping area in opposition-held Idlib within 24 hours, residents and rescuers said.
They said the aircraft were flying at high altitude, which differentiates it from aging Syrian airforce.
The opposition-run Civil Defense service said a further 20 people were wounded in the strike. Video released by local activists showed extensive damage, with produce mixed up with human parts.
Reuters could not verify the authenticy of the footage
A resident said the attack took place at the busiest time of the day.
Russia’s defense ministry regularly says it is attacking hard-line Islamist militants. It denies opposition and witness accounts that its warplanes target market places, medical centers and residential areas away from frontlines.
Syrian media made no mention of the strikes.
Civil Defense workers and residents said dozens of raids have since Sunday struck the towns of Khan Sheikhoun, Maarat al Numan, Saraqeb and scores of villages.
On Monday, warplanes bombed a potato market in nearby Saraqeb, killing at least 11 people, mostly farmers and traders. Shortly after that warplanes knocked out of action the only public hopsital in the city, which was supported by French charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
MSF said in a statement the attack on the hospital killed at least five people, including a child, and injured six. It said this was the second strike on the hospital in just over a week.
Russia has escalated its strikes in Idlib in recent months, throwing its military weight behind a Syrian military campaign to push deeper into the mainly rebel-held northwestern province. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi)
Suspected Russian warplanes hit busy market in Idlib, kill 15
Suspected Russian warplanes hit busy market in Idlib, kill 15
Algeria inaugurates strategic railway to giant Sahara mine
- The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030
- The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium
ALGEIRS: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday inaugurated a nearly 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) desert railway to transport iron ore from a giant mine, a project he called one of the biggest in the country’s history.
The line will bring iron ore from the Gara Djebilet deposit in the south to the city of Bechar located 950 kilometers north, to be taken to a steel production plant near Oran further north.
The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium.
During the inauguration, Tebboune described it as “one of the largest strategic projects in the history of independent Algeria.”
This project aims to increase Algeria’s iron ore extraction capacity, as the country aspires to become one of Africa’s leading steel producers.
The iron ore deposit is also seen as a key driver of Algeria’s economic diversification as it seeks to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons, according to experts.
President Tebboune attended an inauguration ceremony in Bechar, welcoming the first passenger train from Tindouf in southern Algeria and sending toward the north a first charge of iron ore, according to footage broadcast on national television.
The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030, according to estimates by the state-owned Feraal Group, which manages the site.
It is then expected to reach 50 million tons per year in the long term, it said.
The start of operations at the mine will allow Algeria to drastically reduce its iron ore imports and save $1.2 billion per year, according to Algerian media.
