published april 29 2017 at least four people were killed and 11 others were injured in airstrikes reportedly carried out by the bashar al-assad regime in syria. a mosque was also destroyed by regime airstrikes north of hama in the west-central region of the country local civil defense sources said friday. a civil defense official in idlib leys el-faris told anadolu agency four civilians were killed and seven others injured in an airstrike which hit the sermin district. according to faris a number of residential areas were destroyed in the attack. the abu ubaidah ibn al-jarrah mosque north of hama city in kafr zeita was also destroyed by russian airstrikes. "the regime is intensively attacking rural areas in idlib and hama with its allies" faris said. videos and images of the destroyed mosque have been circulating online. speaking to anadolu agency yusuf el-bustani a local activist said regime forces were attacking the opposition-controlled qaboun neighborhood of the capital damascus. bustani said four civilians had been injured in the attack. he added local people had difficulties in meeting basic needs due to regime forces attack in east ghouta. syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. several rounds of peace talks - in geneva and the kazakh capital astana - have so far failed to end the conflict in which hundreds of thousands of syrian civilians are believed to have been killed to date. the namesake of the destroyed mosque abu ubaidah ibn al-jarrah was one of the companions of the prophet muhammad and converted to islam in 611. like many of the early muslims of mecca abu ubaidah experienced hardships because of his faith and migrated to abyssinia (ethiopia) with a delegation at muhammads suggestion. abu ubaidah joined muhammad when the prophet migrated from mecca to medina in 622. during his life he was a military commander in the muslim-quraysh wars and during the rashidun conquest of the levant. he died of the plague in 639 and his tomb can be found in modern day jordan.
airstrikes by assad regime warplanes kill 4 in syrias idlib destroy mosque in hama