Syria activists say 4 civilians killed in intense air strikes

BEIRUT — Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded targets in central and northern Syria, killing at least four civilians Sunday as ground troops battled insurgents and seized new territory, activists and the government said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and activist news platform Syrian Revolution Talbiseh said warplanes believed to be Russian targeted mourners at a funeral in Homs province's Al Ghanto village, killing four civilians. Homs-based activist Bebars Al Telawy said the civilians were burying a man who died from wounds sustained a day earlier when the planes struck.

Al Ghanto, the town of Talbiseh and other areas north of the city of Homs were pounded with more than a dozen air strikes Sunday, including government helicopters dropping barrel bombs in the village of Ter Maela, the activists said.

The state-news agency SANA reported army troops began a ground offensive in the area.

Meanwhile, the observatory and monitoring group Local Coordination Committees said intense clashes were reported on the edges of Wadihi, a village the government firmly controlled Sunday, a day after entering it during an offensive in southern Aleppo. The area is controlled by mainstream rebels, some Islamist groups and Al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.

Government ground forces, backed by allied militias, opened another front in eastern Aleppo, where the Daesh terror group has a strong presence. Syria TV reported that government forces seized control of Al Jabriyeh village. Local Coordination Committees said government warplanes had bombed areas in eastern Aleppo near the Kweiras military air base, which Daesh has besieged for months.

Syrian troops had launched a separate offensive earlier this month in an attempt to break the siege.

Since Russian air strikes began on September 30, Syrian troops have been on the offensive on several fronts around the country, in an attempt to secure supply routes and regain control of strategic areas.

Also Sunday, the observatory and Lebanon's Hizbollah TV Al Manar reported that aid was delivered to four areas that were part of a limited UN-brokered cease fire agreement reached last month. It is the first aid delivered to the four besieged areas that include two Shiite villages in the province of Idlib and two rebel-held areas near the border with Lebanon.