Aftermath of Syrian gov't strike in Dera'a
Aftermath of Syrian gov't strike in Dera'aReuters

A mother and her five children were among at least 19 civilians killed on Sunday in Syrian regime bombardment of the southern province of Daraa, a monitoring group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the six members of one family died in the rebel-held area of Dael, AFP reported.

All of the children were under the age of 18, the report noted.

Two brothers and another relative were killed in another house in the same air attack, the Britain-based group said.

It said a regime barrel bomb attack in the Al-Karak al-Sharqi area killed six people in the same family, including three women and a child, as well as a couple.

Two more civilians died in raids on the rebel-held area of Tafas.

"The regime has intensified its air campaign after losing ground in Daraa province in recent months," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman was quoted as having said.

It was in Daraa that peaceful demonstrations broke out against President Bashar Al-Assad's regime, prompting a harsh crackdown that led to armed rebellion.

"The regime is trying to make up for its losses, but is bombarding houses where there are women and children," Abdel Rahman said.

Rebels have gained two significant victories over the army by taking the main border crossing point with Jordan and the ancient town of Bosra al-Sham.

In the northeast, regime forces have also lost Idlib city, the second provincial capital to fall to the insurgency in four years.

The Observatory said last week that the conflict in Syria has left more than 220,000 dead since it began four years ago.

More than 67,000 of the dead have been civilians, including more than 11,000 children. 

Among dead combatants, nearly 47,000 were from pro-regime forces, including more than 3,000 foreign fighters. Nearly 700 were fighters with Hezbollah, a key backer of Assad. 

Nearly 40,000 anti-regime fighters and about 28,000 foreign jihadists have been killed in the conflict, the Observatory said.