Syrian activists: Airstrikes hit east of Damascus, kill 23

Airstrikes hit near a school and a hospital east of the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing at least 23 people in one of the deadliest incidents since a partial cease-fire came into effect in the war-torn country more than a month ago, pro-opposition activists said today.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the casualties were caused by a series of airstrikes that struck the rebel-held town of Deir al-Asafir, which lies east of Damascus in an area known as Eastern Ghouta.
Four children and a civil defense worker were among the victims, the Observatory said. The Local Coordination Committees, another opposition activist group, put the death toll from the airstrikes at 17.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the airstrikes.The government says al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, operates in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. The militant group and its rival, the Islamic State group, are both excluded from a cease-fire that has been in place in Syria for a month.
The Western-backed Syrian opposition says the government of President Bashar Assad has been targeting civilians despite the truce.
The Syrian National Coalition, an opposition group, denounced the "massacre" in Deir al-Asafir, saying it threatened to derail the cease-fire and peace talks that are scheduled to resume in Geneva in two weeks.

"This crime is the latest in a series of actions that aim to consecrate ongoing violations of the cease-fire," the SNC said in a statement.

The Observatory says around 2,700 families live in Deir al-Asafir. Government troops have been trying to encircle the town for weeks.
There was no immediate reaction from the Syrian government, which rarely comments on security issues.
The talks in Geneva are meant to start a political process for transition in Syria away from Assad. In comments made in an interview with Russia's state news agency Sputnik, however, Assad rejected a key opposition demand for a transitional ruling body with full powers, which major powers agreed on at a Geneva conference in June 2012.

He proposed instead a national unity government that comprises government loyalists and members of the opposition. Assad also said he is ready to hold a snap presidential election if the people call for it.