Syria forces launch deadly raids after rebel attack

Syrian government forces today launched air raids on rebel targets near Damascus after its positions came under attack, a watchdog said, reporting dozens of people killed in unrest across the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 people, including two children, died in the town of Rouhabiya, northeast of the capital, as regime forces retaliated for a rebel attack on army positions.

The dead also included nine rebel fighters, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Two other people died in clashes between rebel fighters and regime forces, the watchdog said, adding that the fighting broke out at dawn and lasted throughout the day.

Air strikes and shelling by regime warplanes on other targets in the countryside of Damascus killed nine other people, including three children, the Observatory said.

A woman and two children were also killed when a car bomb exploded in the southern province of Daraa, the Observatory said. State television said it blew up as "terrorists" were planting a bomb inside the vehicle.

According to the Observatory, which collates information from a network of activists and medics, more than 110,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict broke out in March 2011, including at least 40,146 civilians.