Regime airstrikes kill 12 civilians in Syria's Daraa

By Mohammed Karabagak

DARAA, Syria (AA) - Twelve people including one child were killed Wednesday in airstrikes carried out by Syrian regime forces in southwestern Daraa city, a civil defense official said.

Amer Abu Zaid told Anadolu Agency that the regime forces had carried out 10 airstrikes in central Daraa and four in Tafas district.

All casualties were reported in Tafas as regime jets targeted a school used as a shelter by civilians, Zaid said, adding 13 people were also injured in the attacks during which 24 barrel bombs were used.

Guarantors Russia, Turkey and Iran had agreed on May 4 in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to establish "de-escalation zones" in war-torn Syria.

The zones would cover the city of Idlib and certain parts of Latakia, Homs, Aleppo and Hama as well as Damascus, Eastern Ghouta, Daraa and Quneitra.

Syria has been locked in civil war since March 2011. According to UN's special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, around 400,000 people have died in the conflict while half the population has been driven from their homes.