Russian Airstrike Hits North Syrian School, Kills 12 Children

Rebels: Peace Talks Can't Happen If Russia Continues Strikes

Russian warplanes bombed the town of Injara, in the Aleppo Province today, hitting a school and killed 13 people, including 12 schoolchildren and a teacher. There were a number of others wounded in the incident.

Injara is just 9 miles west of Aleppo city, the contested city which before the Syrian Civil War was the economic and industrial hub of the country. Rebel factions hold the area on this side of Aleppo, including the town hit today. Russia has not commented on the incident.

It’s just the latest in a growing number of incidents of airstrikes by various international forces hitting civilian targets, however, and is fueling more anger among rebels, with Riad Hijab, a high-profile opposition figure, saying the peace talks were impossible if Russia wasn’t forced to stop striking the country.

Hijab’s comments are just the latest in a flurry of comments from both rebel and government figures which suggest neither side really intends to attend this month’s talks unless they are given an unlikely number of concessions, which means ultimately the Geneva meeting will just be the latest in a long line of talks about Syria with little to no Syrian representation.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.