20 civilians killed in Russia, Syria strikes near Homs city: monitor

Russian and Syrian strikes killed 20 civilians, including five children, near Homs today, a war monitor says, as rebels advanced towards the country’s third-largest city in a lightning advance.

“Russian air strikes and Syria air raids and shelling killed 20 people near Homs city, including five people from the same family,” says Rami Abdel Rahman, of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.