Air strikes on southern Syria kill 22 civilians: monitor

A barrage of Russian air strikes on rebel-held areas of southern Syria killed 22 civilians today, a monitoring group said, most of them in a single battered town.

"At least 35 Russian air strikes hit the town of Al-Mseifra," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"One of them hit a basement where people were taking shelter, killing 17 civilians, including five children," the Britain-based monitor said.