Airstrike on north Syria jail run by al-Qaida kills 39

An airstrike killed at least 39 people in a Syrian rebel-held town in the northwest on Saturday when it struck a courthouse and an adjacent prison, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The targeted jail, which is run by Islamist rebels of al-Qaeda branch in Syria the Nusra Front, is located near a popular market in Maarat al-Numan town in Idlib province.

Dozens of people were also wounded and many remained trapped under the rubble, the monitor said.

Residents carry an injured man in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria January 9, 2016.

The conflict in Syria erupted in March 2011 when government forces cracked down on peaceful pro-democracy protests calling for Assad to step down.

Fares, Fresh FM’s director, has previously been detained by Al-Nusra fighters, who disapprove of what they term the station’s “secular tendency and support of apostates”, Taleb said.

UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura is now shuttling around the region to prepare for the talks, part of a plan endorsed by the UN Security Council last month to end the five-year war that has killed 250,000 people and created millions of refugees.

Russian warplanes have been pounding rebel positions in Syria since September 2015, which Syrian officials said is effective.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, attending an Arab League meeting on Sunday to discuss the spat between the two Gulf rivals, also said he did not expect the diplomatic row to affect peace efforts. Some of them said that the government must first stop bombing civilian areas, release detainees and lift blockades of opposition-held areas.

On Thursday, the Syrian government announced that it would allow aid into Madaya, as well as a number of other besieged towns.

Damascus claimed it is ready to participate provided they know what opposition groups will be participating. “Basically we’ll be crossing from the territory controlled by one side to the territory controlled by another” Krzysiek said.