Beirut, Sep 17 (IANS/EFE): At least 48 people, including 12 children, have been killed in airstrikes by Syrian warplanes this week in the central province of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Wednesday.

The airstrikes Monday and Tuesday targeted opposition militia positions in the town of Telbise and the victims included leaders of the Islamist fighters and rebel brigades that operate there, according to SOHR.

The London-based NGO said it expected the death toll to increase as there were dozens of seriously injured.

In February, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution urging the warring parties to "immediately cease attacks against civilians and lift the siege of populated areas, including in the embattled Old City of Homs".

The UN has calculated that 191,369 people, 9,000 of whom were children, have died in the Syrian conflict pitting opposition fighters against the government of President Bashar al-Assad between March 2011 and April 2014.