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Syrian Airstrike on Idlib Province Market Kills 6

by VOA News

   Rescuers in Syrian city of Maarat al-Numan are picking through the
   rubble after what they say was a Syrian military airstrike on a market
   Sunday.

   At least six were killed while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
   puts the death toll at 11.

   Syria's famed White Helmet rescuers pulled a man and young boy from
   under a pile of rocks and dust, saying they expect to find more
   victims.

   Maarat al-Numan is in Syria's rebel-controlled Idlib province, which
   borders Turkey.

   Turkish forces have launched what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls
   a "serious" operation in Idlib, parts of which are in the hands of
   al-Qaida linked extremists formerly known as the Nusra Front.

   The operation is, in part, aimed at enforcing a de-escalation zone in
   Idlib, as agreed to by Turkey, Iran, and Russia during talks in
   Kazakhstan. The militants oppose such a zone.

   Turkey also says establishing a zone would prevent what it calls a
   "terror corridor" that it says could allow Kurdish fighters battling
   the Syrians to link up with separatists inside Turkey.