Rebel fire kills 8 in Syria's Aleppo: Monitor

BEIRUT - Agence France-Presse

Rebel fighters from the "First Battalion" under the Free Syrian Army take part in a military training on June 10, 2015, in the rebel-held countryside of the northern city of Aleppo. AFP Photo

Rebel fire killed eight people in Syria's second city Aleppo June 18, the latest in a spate of civilian deaths in government-held districts this week, a monitoring group said.

"A large rocket knocked down a three-floor building in Sharea Tishreen and killed eight people," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
 
Rebel groups control the east of the city and have repeatedly fired rockets into western neighbourhoods controlled by the government.    

Since June 15, at least 63 civilians have been killed in government-held areas, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
 
"It's scary -- the rocket fire is happening daily and it's increasing," he told AFP.
 
On June 15 alone, at least 36 civilians were killed in one of the bloodiest days for west Aleppo since the start of the civil war in 2011.
 
Rebel-held areas too come under frequent bombardment.
 
The military often uses barrel bombs -- large containers packed with explosives and scrap metal, that are usually dropped from helicopters and can cause heavy civilian casualties.    

Human rights groups have condemned both sides for their indiscriminate attacks on residential areas.    

On June 17, rebel groups seized full control of the contested Aleppo suburb of Rashideen, taking them closer to a military headquarters just outside the city, the Observatory said.