DAMASCUS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Syrian warplanes targeted rebel positions in the countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria on Monday, just 48 hours after 21 government forces were killed by rebels' attack, a war monitor reported.
The airstrikes targeted the rebel-held al-Rashidin area in the western countryside of Aleppo province, leaving unknown losses, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The attack comes 48 hours after the rebels killed 21 Syrian soldiers in an attack in the countryside of Aleppo.
The Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on the ground, said the Syrian forces bombarded also rebel positions in the countryside of the northwestern province of Idlib and the adjacent Hama province in central Syria.
Idlib and the surrounding areas in the countryside of Aleppo, and Hama are the last major rebel strongholds in Syria.
A Russian, Turkish-backed deal to create de-escalation zones in the aforementioned areas has failed to contain the situation amid reports on an imminent operation by the army to retake Idlib from the ultra-radical rebels.
