Beirut (AFP) – Russian air strikes in Syria have killed at least 446 people, more than a third of them civilians, since they began end-September, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday.
Meanwhile, fresh attacks on a flashpoint town in the centre of the country by either Russian or regime planes killed at least 14 civilians, nearly half of them children, the Britain-based Observatory added.
Russia launched its air war on Bashar al-Assad’s opponents, saying it was targeting the Islamic State group and other “terrorists”.
Of the total killed since then, 151 are civilians and include 38 children and 35 women, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
The Observatory relies on a network of activists, medical staff and fighters on the ground who say they identify Russian warplanes based on model, flight patterns and monition types.
In Friday’s attack on the town of Talbisseh, in Homs province, Abdel Rahman said six children and five women were among the dead.
The source of the fire was unclear, but Russian and government planes have been conducting strikes in the area.
Russia’s air force has been backing army ground operations in the coastal province of Latakia, Aleppo in the north and Homs and Hama in the centre.
A US-led coalition has also conducted more than a year of air strikes in Syria in its war on IS.
Talbisseh, which lies on the Homs-Hama highway, is controlled by non-IS rebel forces.
– IS cuts key regime route –
Russian warplanes on Friday struck targets in eastern parts of Hama province, southern battlefronts in Aleppo province, and parts of the regime bastion of Latakia province, the Observatory said.