Four killed by airstrikes on outskirts of Damascus

By Mohamed Misto

DAMASCUS (AA) - At least four people were killed and a number of others injured by airstrikes carried out in opposition-held parts of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta district in the Damascus countryside, according to a local civil defense source.

“Two civilians were killed when unidentified warplanes struck targets on the outskirts of the city of Douma,” Firas al-Doumi, an opposition-affiliated civil defense official, told Anadolu Agency.

“A child from the city of Saqba and another from the town of Kafr Batna were killed in similar attacks,” al-Doumi said, adding that the twin strikes had also left dozens injured.

Eastern Ghouta was subject to continuous shelling on Monday, leaving at least 32 civilian residents dead, according to local civil defense sources.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed -- and more than 10 million displaced -- as a direct result of the conflict, according to the UN.