69 die in arms depot blast in Syria
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Sarmada, Syria: At least 69 people were killed including 17 children following an explosion at a weapons depot in northwestern Syria on Sunday.
The explosion took place in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province.
Seventeen members of a rabid Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist-led alliance were also killed in the mishap.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights rescue operation were still ongoing.
Most of the civilians died in the explosion were family members of HTS fighters displaced to the area from the central province, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman reportedly said.
Meanwhile, President Bashar al-Assad admonished that government forces intend to retake control of the area.
An estimated 2.5 million people live in the province; they make up half of those displaced from fighting elsewhere in the country.
According to reports more than 350,000 people have been killed in the Syrian civil war started in 2011.