Syrian, Russian warplanes hit market in east, kill 17: Syrian Observatory

BEIRUT

Syrian and Russian warplanes killed at least 17 people in an air raid on a market in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor on June 6, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported. 

The strikes hit the town of Ashara, about 60 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, Deir al-Zor city. 

Eight children were among those killed and the toll was expected to rise because of the high number of serious injuries, the Britain-based Observatory said.   

Dozens of Syrian regime strikes on Aleppo killed at least 16 civilians on June 5, Observatory said a day earlier. 

The strikes caused huge damage to one rebel-held district targeted by a barrel bomb, it said. 

The crude, unguided explosive device hit the Qaterji neighborhood, where an AFP photographer saw a street strewn with rubble as residents ran for safety and a rescuer rushed a bloodied child into an ambulance.