Syrian civil war: Russian warplanes carry out airstrike on school near Aleppo, killing at least eight children

Airstrike in the town of Anjara in Aleppo province also seriously injured 20 people, monitors said

Russian warplanes have been bombarding rebel-held areas of Syria since the end of September (Reuters)

At least eight children have been killed after Russian warplanes carried out an airstrike on a school in north west Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrike in the town of Anjara in Aleppo province also seriously injured 20 other people, including a number of children.

The news comes as the death toll from recent Russian airstrikes in Idlib province hit close to 100.

Russian jets bombarded rebel-held areas of the province on Saturday, with a court and prison run by the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front in Maarat al-Numaan baring the brunt of the bombing.

"After 32 hours of our rescue operation, and following the deaths of those who were critically injured, the total death toll of the strikes has risen to 96," the Syria Civil Defence said in a press release yesterday.

The province of Idlib in western Syria in almost entirely controlled by the Fatah Army coalition, which is made up of a number of jihadi groups, including the aforementioned Nusra Front as well as Jund al-Aqsa, Jaish al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq and Ajnad al-Sham.

Russian jets also bombarded the Damascus suburb of Douma yesterday afternoon killing at least eight people and seriously injuring several others. The death toll is expected to rise.

In total more than 250,000 people have been killed in the five-year-old Syrian civil war, which started after President Bashar al-Assad used extreme force to crackdown on popular protests. Since then rebel militias, including Isis, have seized vast swathes of land in the country.