BEIRUT: A Syrian search and rescue team says at least 10 civilians were killed in a Russian air strike on a school serving as a shelter in southwest Syria, bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Khalid Solh of the Syrian Civil Defence says the school building in the village of Ain Al Tineh was being used to shelter families who have been forced to flee their homes amid the fighting.
Russia is supporting Bashar Al Assad’s forces to recapture territory from rebels in southwest Syria.
Moaz Al Assad, a photographer at the scene on Tuesday, says he counted at least 20 wounded, including children.
The International Rescue Committee says the government’s advance has trapped tens of thousands of displaced Syrians along the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in 1967.
In the west of the adjacent province of Dara’a, Russian air raids killed one civilian near the village of Al Aliya, it said.
“Since Tuesday morning, heavy Russian air strikes and barrel bombs dropped by the regime have been targeting an area straddling Quneitra and Dara’a,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdul Rahman said.
Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), a group led by Syria’s former Al Qaida affiliate, is present in that area, he said.
HTS fighters are not included in a ceasefire between regime and rebels in Dara’a announced earlier this month, which has allowed the regime to retake control of more than 90 per cent of the province.
Al Assad’s regime has advanced in Dara’a thanks to a deadly bombardment campaign since June 19, along with Russia-brokered deals between opposition fighters and the regime.
In Quneitra on Monday, rebels in at least five towns raised the national flag, seeking a similar agreement with the regime, Abdul Rahman said.
“Rebel factions in these towns have stopped fighting to avoid bombardment and destruction,” he said.
In two days since Sunday, at least 43 regime fighters have been killed in both Dara’a and Quneitra, while 48 rebels have lost their lives, the Observatory said.
More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced by Syria’s war since it started in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.
