Over 19 killed in Damascus by airstrikes of Syrian warplanes

Nineteen people were killed on Sunday and many injured in airstrikes by Syrian warplanes on the town of Kafr Batna, in the governorate of Rif Dimashq (the Countryside of Damascus), southern Syria, also a suburb of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Two similar strikes targeted the city of Douma, the centre of Rif Dimashq, but no casualties have been reported.

Meanwhile, sporadic clashes are taking place in Al-Meliha, a town in the same province, between fighters of Islamist groups, among them Al-Nusra Front (Al-Qaeda in the Levant), on one hand and the regime forces supported by the National Defence Force and Hezbollah fighters on the other, the London-based Observatory added.

A loud explosion has also been heard in the town, but no details have yet been revealed, as the Syrian jets shelled areas in Al- Qalamoun region.