Syrian regime warplanes kill 4 in Daraa province

DARAA, Syria

At least four people were killed and eight others injured Sunday when Syrian regime warplanes carried out an airstrike in the southern province of Daraa, according to a local civil-defense source.

Nibras Horani, a pro-opposition civil defense official based in Daraa, told Anadolu Agency that the warplanes hit a residential area in Nassib district near Jordanian border.

"Airstrikes caused heavy damage to several buildings in the area," Horani added.

The airstrikes came despite a ceasefire deal brokered by Turkey and Russia that went into effect on December 30 throughout war-torn Syria.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-torn country, according to the UN, but the Syrian Center for Policy Research puts the death toll at more than 470,000.

*Reporting by Halit Suleyman and Ayse Aktas; Writing by Sibel Ugurlu