More than 40 killed in Syrian government air strikes

Syrian government air strikes have killed 42 people, including six children, in a rebel-held village east of Damascus, a monitoring group says.

In this image made from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, people walk beside a building on fire as they look for survivors and carry out bodies from the site after a Syrian government airstrike hit the area in the town of Hamouriyeh.

Syrian government air strikes on a rebel-held village east of Damascus have killed 42 civilians, including six children, a monitoring group says, denouncing what it called a massacre.

"The number of people who were killed in the massacre committed by the regime warplanes in the town of Hammuriyeh, has risen to 42 at least, including six children," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

       

Syrian government officials were not immediately available to comment on the reported attack in Hamoria, a district in the Eastern Ghouta area that has been besieged by security forces.

 

The opposition Syrian Media Organization posted footage on YouTube of several bodies lying on a blood-stained floor, some of them children with blast wounds. Other bodies lay under white shrouds or jackets and a caption said more than 30 people had been killed.

     

The opposition grassroots Local Coordination Committees said on its Facebook page that the strike hit a public square where people were leaving a mosque after Friday prayers.

 

Another opposition group, the Shaam News Network, published a video on its Facebook page showing what it said was the aftermath of a blast in an open square. Bodies lay on the road and buildings were damaged.

The United Nations says 200,000 people have been killed in Syria's civil war, which started after security forces cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2011.