Syrian refugees killed near Turkish border

Wounded were rushed across the border for treatment in Turkey, said the Britain-based Observatory for Human Rights, adding that the death toll was likely to rise.

Social media footage showed the charred frames of tents that had been pitched in a muddy field. The Observatory said those killed included women and children.

It was not initially clear who had carried out the raids on Sarmada in rebel-held territory in Syria's northwestern Idlib province and about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of divided Aleppo.

Abu Ibrahim al-Sarmai, an activist, said "two aerial strikes" hit the makeshift camp for displaced people.

They had been sheltering, he said, from fighting in Syria's northern hub of Aleppo and Palmyra, the heritage city recaptured by Syrian government forces with Russian air support.

"The camp took two direct hits. I heard many tents were on fire," he said.

Nidal Abdul Qader, an opposition civilian aid official who lives about one kilometer (half a mile) from the camp, said around 50 tents and a school had burned down.

Twin bombing in Homs

The Sarmada attack came after a twin bombing Thursday in Syria's central province of Homs, in the village of Mukharam al-Fawkani.

At least 10 people were killed and scores wounded, according to Syria state media and the regional governor, Talal Barrazi.

A car bomb first exploded, then as people gathered, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his explosives.

Syrian state television said four children and three women were among those killed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Similar deadly attacks in the Homs area in the past have been claimed by the "Islamic State" group, which earlier this week overran an adjacent gas field.

Relative calm in Aleppo

Relative calm prevailed on Thursday in Aleppo following a truce announced by US officials in agreement with Russia as diplomats try to extend an increasingly fragile ceasefire agreed in February for much of Syria.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, vowed that Syrian government forces would fully recapture Aleppo, with is partly held by rebels, and other Syrian cities.

ipj/sms (AP, Reuters)