The bloodshed came as United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura met in Damascus with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem to prepare for peace talks between the government and the opposition.
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Thirty people were wounded, with many in critical condition.
Damascus considers all groups seeking Assad’s ouster as “terrorists”.
In Idlib, Al Nusra has formed an alliance with rebel groups, including hardline faction Ahrar Al Sham. The attacks targeted a prison ran by the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front militant group.
Videos shared by the Syrian Civil Defense, a volunteer opposition aid group, provide a first-person view of rescuers digging victims out of the rubble and carrying bloodied, dust-covered bodies away on stretchers.
The London based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said at least 39 people have been killed but another group – the Local Coordination Committees – has said the death toll is at 51.
The “terrifying massacres was carried out by Russian warplanes”, Abdallah wrote, without saying why he believed they were Russian.
Conflicting figures are common in the aftermath of airstrikes in Syria. The rebels oppose Syrian President Bashar Assad, with whom Russian President Vladimir Putin is friendly.
During his meeting with De Mistura, he said that efforts of the political solution and the Council’s latest, relevant resolutions are linked to the credibility of the efforts of fighting terrorism which require forcing the countries which support terrorism to stop backing it.
Syrian rebels and opposition politicians have expressed doubts over whether the peace talks will begin as planned.
It said there were “credible reports of people dying from starvation” in Madaya, including a 53-year-old man who allegedly died on Tuesday.
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Conferences in Geneva in 2014 failed to bring about a settlement, though this round is seen as particularly urgent after the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution last month endorsing a transitional plan for Syria.
