BEIRUT (AP) – Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded targets in central and northern Syria, killing at least four civilians Sunday as ground troops battled insurgents and seized new territory, activists and the government said.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activist news platform Syrian Revolution Talbiseh said warplanes believed to be Russian targeted mourners at a funeral in Homs province’s al-Ghanto village, killing four civilians. Homs-based activist Bebars al-Telawy said the civilians were burying a man who died from wounds sustained a day earlier when the planes struck.
Al-Ghanto, the town of Talbiseh and other areas north of the city of Homs were pounded with more than a dozen airstrikes Sunday, including government helicopters dropping barrel bombs in the village of Ter Maela, the activists said.
The state-news agency SANA reported army troops began a ground offensive in the area.
Meanwhile, the Observatory and monitoring group Local Coordination Committees said intense clashes were reported on the edges of Wadihi, a village the government firmly controlled Sunday, a day after entering it during an offensive in southern Aleppo. The area is controlled by mainstream rebels, some Islamist groups and al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria.