. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, blamed Syrian government forces for the shelling Friday, saying it was in retaliation for the Turkish air strike.
“This is the worst massacres committed by regime forces since the battles stopped between the regime and the opposition,” said the Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman referring to a ceasefire in March 2020 that ended a wide Syrian government offensive on rebel-held areas. Turkey has launched three major cross-border operations into Syria since 2016 and controls some territories in the north.
Syria’s conflict that began in March 2011, has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.