A Syrian army aircraft crashed Monday morning in the Idlib province city of Ariha, according to footage on social media and activists on the ground.
The province has been the site of fierce clashes for months now. In May, rebels took the province capital Idlib from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces. But bitter battles continued throughout the rest of the province, as regime soldiers tried to keep hold of the last corners of their control. Almost a week ago, rebels rook hold of the entire province after overrunning Syrian forces in Frikka.
Calm hasn't been lasting for Idlib's civilians. This week, the Syrian army pushed into the province again and intensified bombing raids there. UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the crash happened during one such airstrike. Syrian state media said the crash was due to a malfunction in the plane itself.
Hitting a marketplace inside the city, the crash killed at least 12 people, the BBC reported, while soclai media reports larger devastation.
Like many things in Syria today, this news was feeding onto social media long before international publications picked it up and verified. But one thing is made clear — as the battle for Idlib grinds on between rebel groups and regime forces, the ones losing the most are still the civilians. See the footage below. Via Twitter.
#BREAKING: At least 20 dead, 50 wounded after #Syrian army aircraft crashes in market in #Ariha in north-eastern #Idlib province
— i24news_EN (@i24news_EN) August 3, 2015
#Syria: several houses were completely devastated when the regime warplane crashed in the center of Ariha (#Idlib) pic.twitter.com/xcspsWqFuh
— Thomas van Linge (@arabthomness) August 3, 2015
