Activists say airstrikes kill 15 in rebel-held city

BEIRUT / AP

Airstrikes on a rebel-held city in Syria early Tuesday killed at least 15 people, wounded dozens more and demolished several buildings, in one of the deadliest attacks since a cease-fire went into effect last year, Syrian activists and medics said.
The airstrikes hit the city of Idlib, the capital of a northwestern province of the same name that is almost entirely controlled by Syrian rebels and al-Qaida-linked insurgents.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 26 people were killed, including 10 civilians — mostly women. The opposition-run Civil Defense in Idlib says 15 bodies were pulled from the rubble and that 30 people were taken for medical treatment. Conflicting tolls are common in the chaotic aftermath of such attacks.
Opposition activists also reported airstrikes on several suburbs of the capital, Damascus.
The government and the opposition have repeatedly traded accusations of violating the cease-fire, which was brokered by Russia and Turkey and went into effect in December, shortly after the government recaptured the northern city of Aleppo.
The airstrikes came a day after Syrian President Bashar Assad said the European Union should have no role in the reconstruction of Syria unless it changes its policy towards the country. He said European countries which support “terrorists” in Syria “cannot destroy and build at the same time.”

UN envoy for
Syria hails ‘positive’
meeting with Tillerson

GENEVA / AP

The UN envoy for Syria has held a “positive” meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about upcoming talks among Syria’s fighting sides. A spokeswoman for Staffan de Mistura said on Tuesday that he met with the top US diplomat last week as part of a “series of successful meetings with the new US administration” during a trip to the United States. The spokeswoman, Yara Sharif, told reporters in Geneva that the discussions with Tillerson were centered on the “context” of Syria’s war.