BEIRUT: An air strike on a village in the northwest Syrian province of Idlib killed five members of the same family on Wednesday, including a woman and a child, a monitoring group said.
The army also renewed efforts to retake rebel-held areas east of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"The army's air strike on Maaret Shamirin is part of the regime's attempt to bring the area of Maaret al-Numan under control," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman, whose group reported the five deaths in the village.
"The village is also very near the Wadi Deif army base," he said.
Rebels seized control of Maaret al-Numan two weeks ago, since when Islamist fighters of Al-Nusra Front and Free Syrian Army rebels have besieged the nearby Wadi Deif base.
Maaret al-Numan is strategically located on the Damascus-Aleppo road. The army's loss of the town and a section of highway has forced it to take a longer route via Hama province to supply troops in the north.
The army also pushed on Wednesday to retake rebel enclaves in the Eastern Ghuta area of Damascus province, the Observatory said.
Fierce clashes broke out on the edges of Harasta, as the army tried to storm the town on Wednesday. Five civilians were killed by army shelling and shooting in the town, said the Britain-based watchdog.
Also east of Damascus, 13 bodies were found in Douma, said the Observatory. "Among the corpses were bodies of children," said the group, without giving a precise figure.
State news agency SANA blamed "terrorists" for the deaths, while activists cited by the Observatory said the army was to blame.
At least 164 people were killed in violence across Syria on Tuesday, among them 89 civilians, 34 rebel fighters and 41 soldiers, according to the Observatory.
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