Airstrike kills 20 Syrian civilians in Damascus suburb

An airstrike on the town of Hammouriyeh, on the outskirts of Damascus, has killed 20 civilians local activists said on Thursday.

The strike was carried out by an unidentified warplane and hit a residential neighbourhood in the centre of town, reducing a number of buildings to rubble.

"We have managed to identify 15 victims by name while the rest remain unknown," Khaled al-Omari, a local activist told The New Arab.

Activists also shared video footage of the aftermath of the air raid that show women being pulled out to safety from a destroyed and burning residential building.

Local activists were not able to identify whether the raid was carried out by a Russian or Syrian regime warplane, as both have repeatedly targeted the area in the past.

Meanwhile, two civilians were killed in the Damascus suburb of Douma and many more injured by regime rocket fire that targeted a street market in the town.

Activists in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus also reported that Syrian regime warplanes had patrolled the skies over a number of opposition held towns on Thursday morning.

On Tuesday evening, Syrian regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs containing poisonous gas on the besieged Damascus suburb of Moadamiyeh, in the latest violation of a truce struck with opposition forces.

At least ten civilians, including women and children, have died of asphyxiation and bleeding from the lungs according to the initial reports of the town's medical clinic.

Thirty others have been wounded in the attack.

According to local activist Mohamed Nour, around 40,000 local residents have returned to their homes in Moadamiyeh since the truce.

"Since the beginning of the truce, the regime has closed the main crossing for extended periods of time to ensure the depletion of all stored food," he said.

"The regime is currently deploying its forces to storm the southern part of Moadamiyeh, in order to isolate it completely from Daria."

Despite the attack, the regime has not announced the end of the truce yet.

The Moadamiyeh truce was the first of its kind, followed by a number of similar agreements in other areas, including Barza, Yelda, Beit Sahem, and Babila.

Moadamiyeh is a Free Syrian Army stronghold that is surrounded by areas under regime control and has been under regime siege for over two years.