25 civilians killed in regime attack on Syria’s Daraa

By Mohamed Misto

DARAA (AA) - At least 25 civilians were killed Thursday in airstrikes carried out by the Assad regime and its allies on cities and towns in Syria’s southern Daraa province, according to a human rights group.

“Twenty civilians, including at least five children, were killed in an airstrike on the town of Al-Musaifera in Daraa’s eastern countryside,” Nabaa, a Syrian human rights NGO, said in a Thursday statement.

Three other civilians were killed in Daraa’s town of Dael, the group added, while another two lost their lives in the town of Nawa in Daraa’s western countryside.

One day earlier, dozens of civilians were killed in separate attacks by the regime and its allies throughout the southern province, Amer Abu Zaid, a local civil-defense official, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

For the last 10 days, Daraa has been subject to intense aerial bombardments and ground attacks, with Syrian regime forces -- backed by Shia militia groups -- capturing the towns of Busra al-Harir and Nahta.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.