Syrian shelling of camp housing displaced people kills 15

BEIRUT – Syrian government troops shelled a camp hosting displaced people near the Turkish border in the country’s northwest Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding others, Syrian opposition activists said.

The attack came just hours after an airstrike on a nearby area killed six civilians.

Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said government forces shelled camp Qah, killing 15 and wounding others. The Observatory said the shelling caused fires in several tents and added that ambulances rushed to the area and were still evacuating the wounded.

The Aleppo Media Center, an activist collective, also reported that the government shelled the camp with rockets Wednesday evening killing 15 and wounding more.

In the rebel-held town of Maaret al-Numan, also in northwestern Syria, an airstrike killed at least six people and wounded others, according to the Observatory and the opposition’s Syrian Civil Defence, also known as White Helmets.

The latest attacks come after shelling and airstrikes on Idlib Province killed and wounded dozens of people in recent days.

Syrian troops launched a four-month offensive earlier this year against the country’s last opposition stronghold, which is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants.

The government offensive forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes. A fragile cease-fire halted the advance at the end of August, but in recent weeks it has been repeatedly violated.