World

Syrian 'White Helmets' rescue baby from rubble

Harrowing pictures of a one-month-old baby girl pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Idlib, northern Syria, were uploaded online on Friday.
This volunteer with the Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, wept with relief after helping to free an infant from the rubble of a four-storey building. (Syrian Civil Defense)

Harrowing pictures of a one-month-old baby girl who was pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Idlib, northern Syria, were uploaded online on Friday.

A member of Syrian Civil Defence team, popularly called the White Helmets, can be seen weeping as he holds the baby in his arms, while a paramedic treats the infant's head injuries.

The footage appears to have been shot inside an ambulance travelling to a hospital.

The Syrian Civil Defence member said it had taken two hours to retrieve the baby from the rubble of a four-storey building.

The paramedic said the building had been hit by an airstrike carried out by Syrian government forces.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights at least 11 civilians, including seven children, died during attacks on Idlib and nearby provinces on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, government troops seized more territory around the northern city of Aleppo.

Russian war planes struck rebel-held areas north of Aleppo on Saturday as the army shelled the besieged old quarter.

Russia was reported on Friday to be sending more warplanes to Syria to ramp up its air campaign.

The latest strikes come 10 days into a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive to capture rebel-held eastern Aleppo and crush the last urban stronghold of a revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that began in 2011.

Saturday's air strikes focused on major supply lines into rebel-held areas — the Castello Road and Malah district — while fighting raged in the Suleiman al Halabi neighbourhood, the front line to the north of Aleppo's Old City.

With files from Reuters