Rocket fire has killed 12 civilians in a regime-held village in north-western Syria, state news agency SANA has said, blaming the Tahrir al-Sham alliance for the attack, AFP reported.

SANA said 15 people were also wounded late Sunday in the attack on al-Wadihi village south of Aleppo city and said Tahrir al-Sham, which controls parts of Aleppo's countryside as well as most of neighbouring Idlib, was responsible.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the same death toll -- saying five children were among those killed -- and also blamed extremists based in rural Aleppo for the attack.

But the monitor did not specify whether Tahrir al-Sham or other allied extremist groups were responsible.

The attack came as Syrian government forces have been locked in clashes with Tahrir al-Sham fighters in nearby Hama province.

More than 35 combatants, mostly regime forces, were killed on Saturday in battles in Hama's countryside, according to the Observatory.

Parts of Aleppo, Hama and Idlib are supposed to be protected from a massive regime offensive by a buffer zone deal that Russia and Turkey signed in September.

But it was never fully implemented as extremists refused to withdraw from a planned demilitarised zone.

In January, Tahrir al-Sham extended its administrative control over the region, which includes most of Idlib province as well as adjacent slivers of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces.

The Syrian government and Russia have upped their bombardment of the region since late April, killing nearly 400 civilians, according to the Observatory.