Activists: Russian airstrikes kill dozens of people in Syria's coastal province of Latakia

BEIRUT – Activists say Russian airstrikes have killed dozens of people in a Syrian coastal province.

The activists say the airstrikes, which began Monday afternoon and lasted several hours, also wounded scores.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Tuesday that at least 45 people were killed in the rebel-held Jabal al-Akrad region in Latakia province.

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist-run monitoring group, says 57 people were killed in the province on Monday, mostly by Russian airstrikes.

Jabal al-Akrad is close to the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, which has been targeted by Russian warplanes since Moscow launched its air campaign late last month. Latakia province includes key strongholds of President Bashar Assad and the Alawite religious minority to which he belongs.