10 killed in Syria mortar attack

At least 10 people were killed and 33 others wounded on Monday by fresh rebel shelling in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, according to a monitoring group.

The mortar shells slammed into government-controlled areas of al-Baron and Jamiliyeh streets as well as the surrounding areas of the Sa'adallah al-Jaber square in Aleppo, Xinhua news agency reported citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group added that the toll would likely rise due to the large number of critically wounded people.

Meanwhile, Syrian warplanes pounded rebel-held areas in western Aleppo and areas in the northwestern countryside of that key province on the borders with Turkey.

The observatory stopped short of giving details about the results of the shelling by the government troops on rebel-held areas.

In recent weeks, the Syrian troops ramped up their attacks in the northeastern part of Aleppo in a bid to lay a siege on rebel-held areas inside the city of Aleppo to isolate them from the province's countryside, which is adjacent to the Turkish borders where the rebels are getting their support.