18 killed in shelling in Syria

Beirut, Oct 10 (IANS/EFE) At least 18 people, including four children, were killed Friday after Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad shelled an area in the south of the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

The victims, including a married couple, were killed when a rocket hit the al-Harra village in the province of Deraa, seized earlier this week by rebels.

The area, controlled by Islamic insurgents and fighters from the Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, includes a strategic hill which dominates the region.

Also Friday, government warplanes and helicopters bombed several targets in the central Hama province, including Morek, Kafr Zita, and Latman.

It was not immediately known whether the attacks caused any casualties.

The number of documented victims of the armed conflict in Syria between March 2011 and April 2014 is 191,369, 9,000 of them being children, according to figures issued by the UN.

--IANS/EFE

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