Seven Killed Including Children in Regime Attacks on Kafranbel in Idleb

Regime airstrikes on residential neighborhoods and a school in the town of Kafranbel in Idleb kill seven civilians, including four children and a woman

At least seven people, including four children and a woman, were killed on Thursday in two regime airstrikes on the northern town of Kafranbel in Idleb province.

Local activists said that the regime used six vacuum bombs to target residential neighborhoods in Kafranbel, leaving more than 10 injured and the town's elementary school destroyed.

Last Sunday, eight regime air raids hit Kafranbel, killing six civilians including a woman and a child.

Elsewhere, in eastern Syria, 14 civilians including six children were killed in airstrikes, thought to be carried out by the U.S.-led coalition, on the northern Al-Matab village near Raqqa, activists said.

"The raids hit the village of Al-Matab after midnight and were likely carried out by the coalition," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Al-Matab lies near a key road linking Raqqa — Islamic State's (ISIS) de facto capital — to Deir ez-Zor city, the capital of the adjacent oil-rich province.

On Monday, U.S.-backed Syrian Defense Forces fighters cut off that road in efforts to encircle ISIS militants in Raqqa.

The U.S.-led coalition has been backing the SDF's advance toward Raqqa with air power and special operations forces as advisers.

Abdel Rahman said that SDF fighters were advancing on ISIS militants in Al-Matab, which lies about 55 kilometers southeast of Raqqa.

The SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, launched its offensive against Raqqa in early November and has since seized large swaths of territory in northern Syria.

The SDF is considered an enemy of Ankara, which perceives its YPG leadership as "terrorist" because of its links to the outlawed armed PKK group in Turkey.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.

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