At least 21 civilians, including six children, were killed on Thursday in air strikes that targeted several towns in central Syria, according to Al Arabiya News.

Fourteen civilians – three of them children – were killed when a barrage of barrel bombs hit the town of Al-Houla and neighboring villages, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Barrel bombs are indiscriminate weapons typically dropped from helicopters. Their use in Syria’s war has come under fierce criticism by rights groups.

Seven civilians, three of them children, were also killed on Thursday in air strikes on the besieged town of Rastan, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Rastan is one of the last strongholds controlled by militants in the central province of Homs.

Source: MENA