DHAKA: At least 50 were killed including children in deadly air strikes on two markets in rebel-held northwestern province.

The strikes were among the deadliest since a ceasefire took effect in Syria at the end of February, Rami Abdurrahman, chief of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday (April 19).

The opposition's Higher Negotiations Committee (HNC) announced its delegation was leaving Geneva because no advances were made in the talks.

Riad Hijab, the head of the HNC, had earlier warned that the delegation would leave Switzerland if the attacks on rebel-held towns would not stop.

It was not clear if Tuesday’s air strikes were carried out by Syrian or Russian war planes that have been deployed to Syria to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The rescue workers said more than 40 people were killed in the town of Maarat al-Numan in the rebel stronghold of Idlib province.

BDST: 1255 HRS, APR 20, 2016
SAS/RR