Smoke plumes billow following reported Syrian government forces' bombardment in the southern countryside of the largely jihadist-controlled region of Idlib on May 24, 2019. (AFP)

MOSCOW, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday denied reports that its air force had carried out an airstrike against a market in Syria, killing and wounding dozens.

"Statements by anonymous representatives of the White Helmets, funded by Britain and the United States, about an alleged attack on a market in the village of Maarat al-Numan (Idlib province) are fake," the ministry said in a statement.

"The aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces did not perform any tasks in this region of Syria," it said.

Earlier on Monday, Reuters said that airstrikes on a market and a residential neighborhood in Maarat al-Numan, a densely populated opposition-held city in northwestern Syria, had killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens.

It quoted anonymous rescuers and residents as saying that the raids are believed to have been carried out by either Syrian or Russian jets.

Also on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog group, said that around 19 people had been killed and dozens more wounded in Russian airstrikes against Maarat al-Numan.