Russian air strikes in Syria's northwestern region of Idlib on Thursday killed eight civilians, including five children, a war monitor said.

Most of Idlib and parts of Aleppo province are still controlled by factions opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's Russian-backed regime, including a group that includes onetime members of Al-Qaeda's former Syria franchise.

Five civilians from the same family were killed in Saraqeb and three others in the town of Arnaba, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"The region is witnessing very intense bombardment by Russian warplanes," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based monitoring group, said.

Idlib province is a dead end for people displaced from other formerly rebel-held parts of the country that government forces have retaken.

The violence in northern Syria is escalating an already dire humanitarian situation, with aid groups warning of displacement on an unprecedented scale.

According to the UN humanitarian coordination agency OCHA, almost 350,000 people have fled their homes since December 1, mainly northwards from southern Idlib, which has borne the brunt of the air strikes.

The International Rescue Committee has warned another 650,000 people, mostly children and women, could be forced from their homes if the violence continues.

EU condemns northwest Syria offensive
Brussels (AFP) Jan 23, 2020 - The European Union on Thursday condemned renewed fighting around a rebel stronghold in northwest Syria, demanding an end to "unacceptable" air strikes that have killed civilians.

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russia, is tightening the noose around Idlib, the last major rebel-held bastion in Syria's civil war, with air strikes killing at least 23 civilians on Tuesday.

"The renewal of the offensive in Idlib, including repeated air strikes and shelling targeting civilians are unacceptable and must cease," an EU spokesman said in a statement.

"The EU will keep the sanctions against the Assad regime under review as long as these brutal attacks continue."

Most of Idlib and parts of Aleppo province are still controlled by factions opposed to Assad.

The Damascus regime, which controls around 70 percent of the country after nearly nine years of war, has repeatedly vowed to recapture the region.

Idlib hosts at least three million people, many of whom have fled other parts of the country and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

The EU demanded "rapid, safe and unhindered access" for humanitarian organisations and stressed the need for a political solution to the conflict.

The surge in violence comes despite a ceasefire announced by Moscow earlier this month that never really took hold, and there are warnings that a ground offensive could be imminent.

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Russian air strikes in Syria kill 15 civilians: monitor
Beirut (AFP) Jan 21, 2020
Russian air strikes killed at least 15 civilians Tuesday in northwestern Syria, as renewed violence tightened the noose around the country's last major rebel-held bastion and deepened an already dire humanitarian crisis. Retaliatory rocket attacks blamed on rebels and jihadists killed three more civilians in the government-held city of Aleppo in northern Syria, state news agency SANA said. The spike in violence in the neighbouring provinces of Aleppo and Idlib follow so far unsuccessful diploma ... read more