ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Syrian regime has carried out airstrikes on civilian targets in the residential neighbourhood of Jayrud, northeast of Damascus, killing at least 30 one day after a Syrian plane crashed in the area and the pilot was killed by fighters from the Nusra Front. Targets of the air raids included a medical centre and a school, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and rebel sources. Thirty civilians and two medics were killed. The Observatory said that many more residents were injured in the strikes, which rebels believe were in retaliation for the killing of a Syrian pilot the day before. “The strikes against civilians are in retaliation against the execution of the pilot by Nusra Front,” a member of the Free Syrian Army’s Shahid Ahmad Abdo brigade, Said Seif al-Qalamoni, told Reuters. A Syrian warplane crashed in the rebel-held area northeast of Damascus on Friday. State media says the plane went down because of a technical fault but the rebel group Jaish al-Islam claimed to have shot it down. The pilot ejected and was captured. He was killed by a fighter with the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front while being held at a joint command centre. After images of the deceased pilot were shared on social media, the Syrian army warned of a strong response to the killing. Jayrud had largely been spared bombing in the Syrian civil war, now in its sixth year, after striking a truce with the Syrian army. It became a haven for thousands of civilians fleeing the fighting in nearby areas and is densely populated.
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