BEIRUT: A ground-to-ground missile was fired on a town in northern Syria at dawn yesterday and killed at least four civilians, two of them children, a watchdog reported.
Anti-regime activists of the Aleppo Media Center said the missile, which slammed into a residential area of Tal Rifaat, was a Scud, although this could not be independently verified.
The attack also killed two women, wounded several other people and destroyed many homes in the town in Aleppo province, the Britain-based Observatory said.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission activist network reported 30 wounded and 10 houses destroyed, adding a mother and her two daughters were among the dead.
“The toll could rise, with bodies buried under the rubble,” said the Observatory, which relies on a network of sources on the ground for its information.
Amateur video footage posted online by activists showed men clearing away debris in the dark and then removing the body of a child, as cries can be heard from the crowd.
In February, the Observatory cited activists as saying the army fired Scuds on Aleppo city, killing 58 people including 36 children.
Damascus has denied using Scuds.
Elsewhere in Aleppo province, fierce clashes raged inside the Kwiyres military airport, as fighters tried to seize the facility.
Since the beginning of the year, rebel forces have been fighting what they call the “battle of the airports in Aleppo” to deprive the regime of a key supply route.
Fighters have set their sights on the Aleppo international airport, along with the Jarrah, Kwiyres, Minnigh and Nayrab military fields. They took the Jarrah military airport on February 12.
Meanwhile, in Idlib province, the Observatory reported clashes around the major Abu Al-Dhur military airport, which fighters have laid siege to for about a month.
“The rebels have broken into the airport but they are still on the periphery and are engaged in violent clashes with soldiers,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
“It’s an important military airport because it’s still functional,” he added.
The Observatory reported clashes in Barzeh, a district of northern Damascus that has seen days of fighting, as well as in the town of Daraya, south of the capital.
The rebel opposition council in the town said government forces have been trying to take Daraya for 167 days.
They reported air raids and artillery fire, saying there was a shortage of medicines due to the “siege” imposed by regime forces.
On Saturday, at least 161 people were killed throughout the country, said the Observatory.
Scud fired on Syria town kills 4 civilians
Scud fired on Syria town kills 4 civilians
Sudan paramilitary forces say regret deadly Chad border clash
- The RSF said it respected Chad’s sovereignty and internationally recognized borders and was committed to “continuing ongoing investigations” and “taking the necessary measures” to hold those responsible accountable
PORT SUDAN, Sudan: Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces expressed regret on Monday over what they described as “unintentional” clashes with Chadian troops along the border, after Chad said seven of its soldiers were killed in the incident.
In a statement on its official Telegram channel, the RSF said the clashes “resulted from an unintentional mistake during field operations” targeting forces from the Sudanese army who had entered from Chadian territory “to stir discord and then fled back” into Chad.
Sudan has been gripped by conflict since April 2023. Fighting between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 11 million.
Around one million Sudanese refugees have fled to Chad, according to the United Nations.
The RSF said it respected Chad’s sovereignty and internationally recognized borders and was committed to “continuing ongoing investigations” and “taking the necessary measures” to hold those responsible accountable.
Chad’s government had earlier blamed the RSF for the violence.
Government spokesman Gassim Cherif told a news conference that armed fighters from Sudan had crossed into Chad on Thursday, prompting a clash when Chadian troops ordered them to leave.
A government official later told AFP that the Sudanese fighters were “RSF elements.”
Sudan’s army has repeatedly accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying weapons to the RSF and hiring mercenaries routed through Chad, Libya, Kenya or Somalia — claims denied by Abu Dhabi.
Border tensions have risen since October, when the RSF seized El-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, prompting international condemnation over reports of mass killings, summary executions and systematic rape.
