At least 44 people were killed and scores injured in a suspected Russian air strike on a crowded marketplace in Idlib province in Syria. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the yesterday strikes hit the town of Ariha, which is controlled by the Army of Conquest, a rebel alliance, which includes the Nusra Front.

It said that several other areas of the town were also hit. Officials at the Russian defence ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.