In Atmeh, once a small and sleepy village known for its olive trees but now home to a number of camps for those displaced by the country’s long-running civil war, residents described a dramatic and deadly overnight incident.
Mohamed al-Omar, 65, told NBC News that the building that was targeted belongs to his son, who has been living in Germany since 2016.
He said he had been renting the building out since his son’s departure.
A widow and her son had been living on the third floor, while her brother, his wife and their children had been living on the second, he said. Al-Omar said he believed they had all been killed overnight. He said he didn’t know if anyone living there had been involved in jihadist activity.
The third floor of the residential building had been completely destroyed in the raid, he said, while the second and first floors had been significantly damaged.
Idlib is broadly controlled by Turkey-backed fighters, but is also an al-Qaida stronghold and home to several of its top operatives. Other militants, including extremists from the rival Islamic State group, have also found refuge in the region.
One neighbor said that he had been sleeping in his bedroom when he heard the sound of helicopters starting to get “stronger” and “louder” as they neared, describing it as “terrifying.”
“I looked out the window and saw the airdrop to my neighbor’s house,” said Abu Omar, 39, via WhatsApp message.
After that, he said he heard a voice booming through loudspeakers, warning those in the residence to “leave the house immediately” or be targeted.
The calls continued for about half an hour, he said, before gunshots could be heard followed by a final warning. Omar said a woman appeared to be speaking with those issuing the warning before the house “was bombed.”
Other residents and activists in the area described seeing a large ground assault and also described hearing U.S. forces using loudspeakers asking women and children to leave the premises, The Associated Press reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based opposition war monitor, also said the raid had killed at least 13 people, including four children and three women.