Syria conflict: Air strike on refugee camp 'kills 28'

At

least 28 people are reported to have been killed in an air
strike on a refugee camp in rebel-held northern Syria,
monitors say.
Images on social media showed tents destroyed at the
Kamouna camp near Sarmada in Idlib province, close to the
Turkish border.
Some reports say the attack was by Syrian or Russian
warplanes but this has not been confirmed.
The strike comes a day after the extension of a truce was
confirmed.
The Syrian military and non-jihadist rebel forces had agreed to
a temporary truce around the city of Aleppo, following
pressure from the US and Russia.A nationwide cessation of hostilities has been in place since
February, but it has come under severe pressure recently,
particularly around Aleppo, where some 300 people have died
in clashes over the past two weeks.
The UN has warned that if the nationwide cessation fails, it
will be "catastrophic" and could send 400,000 more people
heading for refuge at the border with Turkey.
Smouldering ground
The Kamouna camp for the internally displaced is about 4km
from Sarmada and 10km from the Turkish border.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based
monitoring group, reported that 28 people had been killed,
including women and children, and that 50 more were
wounded.
The Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition activist
network, said about 30 people had been killed and dozens
wounded.
Images on its Facebook page showed the aftermath of fires
among the blue tents in the camp, with the ground still
smouldering.
The Syria Civil Defence, a group of volunteer rescue workers,
gave a similar number of civilian deaths.
The White House condemned the attack.
Spokesman Josh Earnest said: "These individuals are in the
most desperate situation imaginable, and there is no
justification for carrying out military action targeting them."
EU humanitarian aid commissioner Christos Stylianides
tweeted: "Shocking bombardment of refugee camp on Syria/
Turkey border is unacceptable. My thoughts are with the
people who suffered already enough."
Gas field
The fighting in Aleppo early this week has been the most
intense there for more than a year.
The Observatory said rebels had advanced into government-
held western districts on Tuesday night but were pushed back
by Wednesday morning.
Rebels began observing a ceasefire there on Wednesday and
the Syrian military announced a 48-hour truce in the city from
Thursday morning.
Some rocket attacks were reported on government-held areas
on Thursday, but the intense air force strikes of recent days
were absent.
The nationwide partial truce agreement does not include so-
called Islamic State or the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front.
Fighting involving government forces and jihadist groups
continued on Thursday, with clashes reported near Khan
Touman, south of Aleppo.
IS militants captured the Shaer gas field in the east of the
country, killing 30 troops, monitors said, while Russian jets
were reported to have struck militants in Sukhna, north-west
of Palmyra in central Syria.