Dozens killed in Syrian government air strikes

The air raids hit towns in Eastern Ghouta, a rebel stronghold region outside the capital. The strikes came as rebels fired dozens of rockets into Damascus, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 50, unnamed medical officials told SANA, the Syrian state news agency.

"A number of citizens, including a woman, were killed and others were injured [...] by terrorist shelling of residential neighbourhoods in Damascus," state television said in a breaking news alert. It also reported material damage in the heavy rocket fire, but gave no further details on casualties.

The rebels fired dozens of rockets into the center of the city, hours ahead of the arrival of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif who is meeting Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday to discuss the conflict.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said government airstrikes rebel-held eastern suburbs killed 37 civilians and wounded 120 people.

Most intense bombardment in weeks

Earlier today a monitoring group has said that a 48-hour ceasefire was declared in northwest Syria, along the Lebanese border. A simultaneous ceasefire has been called to give relief to two loyalist villages in Idlib province. The truce was reached late Tuesday by the Islamist insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham and Iranian and Lebanese Shiite fighters from Hezbollah to temporarily stop shooting at each other.

Although rebels long have been shelling Damascus, Wednesday's bombardment was the most intense in weeks and lasted for about two hours during the capital's morning rush hour. The government regularly carries out air strikes against rebel-held areas on the outskirts of Damascus, particularly the Eastern Ghouta region, which is also under siege by government loyalists.

More than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict since it broke out in March 2011, and millions have been forced to flee their homes.

dr/jil (AP, AFP, Reuters)