Observatory: Dozens killed in Syria airstrikes

A London-based monitoring group and local residents reported on Friday that the Syrian air force had launched airstrikes on the city of al-Bab and nearby Qabasin, northeast of Aleppo on Thursday and overnight, killing at least 52 people.

Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the Associated Press that seven children were among those killed in the attacks. The Observatory, which says it gathers its information from a network of activists on the ground, said that dozens of others were wounded in the airstrikes.

Locals said the Syrian air force had used so-called barrel bombs - metal drums filled with shrapnel and explosives on residential and industrial areas of the cities.

A resident of Qabasin contacted by the Reuters news agency via Skype said "there were no armed groups in the market, only poor people," when one attack occurred.

"There have been unprecedented air raids across Syria in the last three days where the regime seeks to make gains on the ground to improve its negotiating stance in future political talks," Abdurrahman told Reuters.

Coalition airstrikes continue

Meanwhile, the US-led coalition attacking "Islamic State" (IS) fighters from the air also continued to their campaign on Friday.

A statement released by the Combined Joint Task Force said coalition warplanes had conducted a total of 31 airstrikes on IS forces - 16 on targets in Syria and 15 in northern Iraq.

Among the targets hit in Syria were positions in and around the city of Kobani, near the country's border with Syria.

pfd/sb (AP, Reuters, AFP)