A barrage of Russian air strikes on rebel-held areas of southern Syria killed 22 civilians yesterday, a monitoring group said."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.

The Observatory says it determines who carried out particular strikes based on the type of aircraft and munitions used, the locations and the flight patterns. The hospital in Al-Mseifra had been put out of service by Russian strikes on Wednesday, the Observatory said. Another five civilians were killed in other rebel-controlled areas of Daraa. "This is the highest toll since the escalation began on June 19," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.