8 Civilians Dead as U.S.-led Coalition Hits Rebel Arms Depot in Syria

At least eight civilians, including five children, were killed in U.S.-led air strikes on a weapons depot belonging to a rebel group allied with al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate, a monitor said Wednesday.

The overnight raid hit the Atmeh region of the northwest Idlib province and also killed 10 members of the Jaish al-Sunna group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. 

Atmeh is home to a large camp for displaced Syrians, but the strikes did not hit the camp itself, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said. 

"There were a total of 18 people killed. Eight of them were civilians, including five children and two women," he told AFP. 

"The strikes hit the Jaish al-Sunna weapons depot, which was also used to manufacture shells and rockets. There was a huge explosion after the strikes," he said.

Jaish al-Sunna is part of the Army of Conquest rebel alliance, which includes al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front. 

According to Abdel Rahman, there were also civilians living near the arms depot. 

Activist Ibrahim al-Idlibi, who hails from the province, said the depot's detonation caused a "huge explosion that killed everyone inside."

"We were surprised that there were civilians nearby," he said, adding that locals had counted six civilians killed. 

Idlibi said most of the local anger was directed at Ankara, which has started to allow U.S. warplanes targeting the Islamic State jihadist group to use an air base in southeast Turkey.

A U.S.-led coalition fighting IS launched strikes in Syria last September and has rarely expanded its targets beyond the jihadist group.

It has on occasion hit positions of al-Nusra, though Washington has identified those strikes as hitting what it calls the Khorasan group, which it says is a cell of senior al-Qaida leaders.

Early on in the air campaign, strikes also hit Ahrar al-Sham, another Islamist rebel group that is part of the Army of Conquest alliance.

The overnight raids on Atmeh would be the first time the coalition has struck Jaish al-Sunna.