At least 25 civilians, including 10 children and four women, were killed on Sunday in Russian and Syrian government airstrikes on the Syrian city of Idlib and rural Aleppo, the White Helmets announced Monday.

A total of 56 people, including 20 children, have been killed since Wednesday amid renewed fighting between the pro-Russia Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and rebel forces.

The rebels — led by U.S.-designated Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — seized control of Aleppo on Saturday, prompting Russia to launch its first strikes on the city since 2016.

The Syrian Civil Defense volunteer organization, better known as the White Helmets, said in a statement that an additional 125 people, including 54 children and 39 women, were injured in the Sunday strikes.

The strikes targeted the city of Idlib and rural Aleppo, according to the organization.

It reported that 12 people were killed and 23 were injured in a strike on the entrance to the university hospital in Aleppo. The attack caused an adjacent church to catch on fire. Several Aleppo neighborhoods were also attacked.

Russian strikes also killed a married couple in eastern Aleppo. The couple's two children survived the attack but were injured, it said.

The total number of casualties for Aleppo was not yet known, the White Helmets said, as it continued to tally the dead and injured.

In Idlib, Syrian warplanes struck two camps for displaced people, killing four people and injuring 54 others.

Sixteen people were also killed, and another 59 injured, in the shelling of several northern Idlib neighborhoods.

In the five days of fighting, at least 261 people have been injured on top of the 56 killed. Nearly 100 children have been wounded, the White Helmets said.

The Assad regime has been in a civil conflict with the rebels since 2011 when it cracked down on pro-democracy protests. At least 350,000 people have been killed in the fighting and more than 14 million have been displaced, about half internally, according to the United Nations.

However, the war had been relatively quiet since a cease-fire was brokered in 2020.

The United States, Britain, France and Germany on Sunday urged for de-escalation.

"We are closely monitoring developments in Syria and urge de-escalation by all parties and the protection of civilians and infrastructure to prevent further displacement and disruption of humanitarian access," they said in a joint statement.

"The current escalation only underscores the urgent need for a Syrian-led political solution to the conflict."

China says supports Syria in efforts to restore 'stability'
Beijing (AFP) Dec 2, 2024 –

China on Monday said it "supports Syria's efforts to maintain national security and stability" after a shock rebel offensive saw government forces lose control of Aleppo.

"China is willing to make positive efforts to prevent further deterioration of the situation in Syria," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference.

Aleppo fell to an Islamist-dominated rebel alliance over the course of the last week, the first time it has slipped from government control since Syria's conflict began more than a decade ago, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

Syrian and Russian aircraft responded with deadly strikes in support of government forces on Sunday, according to the Britain-based Observatory.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also travelled to Damascus on Sunday to meet President Bashar al-Assad as the Syrian leader sought support from allies.

While Russia and Iran have been Syria's closest backers in recent years, China's ties to the country have grown.

In September 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Assad announced a "strategic partnership" between their countries during the Syrian president's first visit to China since 2004.

That made China one of only a handful of countries outside the Middle East that Assad has visited since Syria's civil war began in 2011.

Xi told Assad that China supported Syria in "opposing foreign interference, opposing unilateral bullying, safeguarding national independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity," according to state media.

China's foreign minister Wang Yi again expressed support for Damascus in safeguarding national security when he met his Syrian counterpart in May.