Assad air strikes kill 25 including 7 children in Daraa

(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 25 people, including 7 children and 2 women, have been killed by Syrian regime air strikes on border towns near the Jordanian borders, monitoring group said.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said more than 25 people has been killed in Nasib, Al-Yadouda, and Al-Jiza towns in Daraa province.

Bashar al-Assad's air force carried out more than 200 air strikes around the country in the past 36 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The air raids struck areas in the Hama, Daraa, Idlib, Aleppo and Quneitra provinces as well as the Damascus countryside, it said. It also hit the eastern Deir al-Zor province where U.S.-led forces have also been bombing Islamic State, the Observatory added.

The intensified strikes by Assad's forces will add to the fear among his opponents that the government is taking advantage of the U.S. raids on Islamic State to attack other foes, including opposition groups that Washington backs, Reuters reported.

Analysts say the increase could be because the Syrian military wants to weaken rebel groups before they get training and equipment promised by the United States.

Since midnight on Sunday, the Syrian military carried out at least 210 raids, including barrel bombings, on provinces in the east, north and west of the country, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It said there were many casualties but did not give an exact figure.

According to Reuters, the military concentrated the strikes in the "western corridor" that stretches from the southwest up through Damascus towards the Mediterranean, according to the information from the Observatory, which says it gathers details from all sides of the conflict.

Before the surge in Syrian air force raids, the military had carried out 12-20 raids a day, according to the Observatory.

In retaliation, Hazm Movement fighters have destroyed two fighter jets in al-Nairab Military Airport near Aleppo city.

In relevant development, pro-opposition SMART news agency said rebels have killed 55 army troops in the ongoing battles in Morek and Kafr Zeita towns in the northern countryside of Hama.

Activists said Assad’s forces backed by Lebanese Hezbollah movement and National Defence are planning to storm Kafr Zeita since it has been main route for arm supplies to rebels in Morek.