BEIRUT: At least 28 civilians, including women and children, were killed Thursday in air strikes on a displaced camp in northern Syria near the Turkish border, a monitor said.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the strikes which also left 50 civilians wounded targeted the camp near Sarmada in Idlib province, which is controlled by Syria's Al Qaida affiliate Al Nusra Front and rebel allies.
Mamun Al Khatib, director of the Aleppo-based pro-rebel Shahba Press news agency, accused the regime of carrying out the attacks.
"Two regime aircraft fired four missiles on the camp in the village of Al Kammouna," he said.
"Two missiles fell near the camp causing people to panic and two more fell inside where a dozen tents caught fire."
Khatib said the people in the camp had fled fighting in the north of Aleppo province.
Images shared online by activists showed emergency workers putting out fires among damaged blue and white tents.
"There were two aerial strikes that hit this makeshift camp for refugees who have taken refuge from fighting in southern Aleppo and Palmyra. The camp took two direct hits. I heard many tents were on fire," said Abu Ibrahim Al Sarmadi, an activist from the nearby town of Atmeh who has been speaking to people near the affected camp.
He said wounded people were rushed to the Bab Al Hawa border crossing for treatment in Turkey.
Footage shared on social media showed charred tent frames and rescue workers putting out fires which still burned among the tents, pitched in a muddy field. White smoke billowed from smouldering ashes, and one burned and bloodied torso could be seen in the footage.
The Twitter account of the Syrian Civil Defence - first responders in opposition-held territory where medical infrastructure has all but broken down - said more than 30 people were killed in attacks on the camp.
Thousands of Syrians have fled fighting in the northern province over the last weeks, and camps for the displaced have been set up along the Turkish border.
The air strikes come after an intense diplomatic push to revive a landmark ceasefire and salvage peace efforts to end Syria's five-year conflict.
The February 27 nationwide ceasefire between the regime and non-jihadist rebels did not cover areas where Al Nusra is present.
Syria's conflict has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions since it started after the brutal crackdown of anti-government protests in 2011.
