DAMASCUS: At least 57 people were killed in Syrian government airstrikes on opposition areas around Damascus Thursday after rebels fired dozens of mortar rounds at the capital, an activist group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group, said 12 children were among those killed in nearly 40 regime air raids on parts of Eastern Ghouta in Damascus province.
The group said at least 140 people were also injured in the strikes, adding that government forces had also fired surface-to-surface missiles at the area.
The assault came after rebels fired a barrage of more than 100 rockets and mortar rounds at the capital, killing 10 people, including a child and a policeman.
The barrage left usually busy parts of the city deserted."Within minutes, our busy street was empty," said a resident of the Baramkeh neighborhood, adding that the headteacher of a local school had been forced to take her students to a shelter.