Civilian toll mounts as Syria regime pounds jihadist bastion

Nine children were among at least 21 civilians killed in regime attacks on Syria's northwest, a jihadist stronghold that has come under intensified bombardment in the past month, a monitor said.

The strikes, some of which hit a hospital, followed two days of increased bombing by Damascus and its Russian ally on jihadist-dominated Idlib province and parts of neighbouring regions.

Regime bombardment on the area Sunday and Monday killed a total of 31 civilians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Tuesday's strikes on a busy street in the village of Kafr Halab, on the western edge of Aleppo province, killed at least nine civilians, according to the monitor.

An AFP photographer said the bodies of the victims were torn apart and several stores lining the side of the road were destroyed.

The street was crowded with people out and about before breaking the daytime fast observed by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan.

A hospital in the Idlib town of Kafranbel was also hit by artillery shells, said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN humanitarian office.

"The facility is reportedly out of service due to severe structural damage," he told AFP.

The hospital's administrative director Majed al-Akraa confirmed the attack.

"The hospital is completely out of service," he said.

"It was a strong attack. The generators and even my car caught fire."