syria air strike
A plume of smoke rises from a building following an air strike on Syria's northwestern rebel-held Idlib province, on June 25, 2023. Image Credit: AFP

Jisr Al-Shughur: An airstrike early Sunday over a busy vegetable market in northwestern Syria killed at least nine people, activists and local first responders said.

Activists and Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Russia, a top ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, launched the strike over the strategic opposition-held town of Jisr Al-Shughur near the Turkish border.

The strike comes a day after Moscow’s top mercenary group briefly revolted against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Farmers rushed the wounded to the hospital in vegetable trucks, while activists shared urgent calls for blood donations.

Neither Syria nor Russia commented on the airstrike, though Damascus says strikes in the northwest province target armed insurgent groups.

Northwestern Syria is mostly held by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al Sham, as well as Turkish-backed forces.