Mes: agosto 2019

Updated at 1:11 p.m. ET (AP) BEIRUT – Regime airstrikes hit a gas station in northern Syria Thursday, setting off a fiery explosion that killed at least 30 people and wounded dozens, opposition activists said. Amateur video showed thick black smoke engulfing the scene. Earlier Thursday, a Syrian military helicopter crashed near the capital of Damascus, and Syria’s Information Ministry said the helicopter went down after accidentally clipping the tail of a Syrian passenger plane with 200 people on board. The larger aircraft landed safely at Damascus International Airport and no one was hurt, the Information Ministry said. The airstrikes and the close call in the sky underscored the growing turmoil and violence in Syria. The country is embroiled in a civil war between forces fighting for President Bashar Assad and those trying to topple him. More than 23,000 people have been killed in the conflict, according to activists. In recent weeks, Assad’s regime has stepped up airstrikes in northern Syria in an attempt to dislodge rebels from areas they control there. Activists said Thursday’s airstrike hit near the town of Ain Issa, about 25 miles from the Turkish border. A day earlier, rebel fighters had seized control of a border crossing north of the town. Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said witnesses counted at least 30 bodies and said dozens of people were...