22 people, including 4 children, killed in Assad's barrel bombs in Daraa

Syrian army helicopters dropped barrel bombs on Daraa al- Balad suburb in the southern city of Daraa, killing at least 22 civilians, including 4 children, a monitoring group said Thursday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll is expected to rise because there are some people in critical situation.

The day before, Southern Front rebels seized a historic town of Bosra al-Sham near Daraa from the regime, the observatory said, part of a rebel counter-attack to stop Damascus reclaiming the border zone near Israel and Jordan, according to Reuters.

Syria's southwestern corner is of strategic importance due to its proximity to Damascus and neighboring states Israel and Jordan. It is also the last significant foothold of mainstream rebels, who have mostly been crushed elsewhere in Syria by government forces or jihadist groups.

Syria's conflict, now in its fifth year, has killed more than 220,000 people and caused millions to flee.