Fighters from the jihadist Daesh group on Friday executed 23 civilians, including nine children, near Syria's ancient city of Palmyra, a monitor said.

"Daesh group executed by gunfire 23 civilians, including nine children, in the village of Amiriyeh, north of Tadmor," said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman.

He told AFP that family members of government employees were among those killed near Palmyra, also called Tadmor in Arabic, as the jihadists closed in on the UNESCO world heritage site.