At least 70 dead in regime raids near Damascus

Activists say that air raids on a suburb of the Syrian capital have killed  and wounded scores.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the attack on a busy market in Douma killed 58 and wounded more than 200. 

A Douma-based activist who goes by the name of Mazen al-Shami said the air raids struck the main market on Sunday, adding that more than 60 have been killed.

Al-Shami said hundreds of people were in the busy market when the first missile struck the area, inflicting heavy casualties. 

"The regime carried out four air strikes against a market in the centre of Douma," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman,

"The preliminary information suggests most of the dead are civilians," he added.

Abdel Rahman said locals had gathered at the site after the first strike to help evacuate the wounded when more raids struck.

The devastating attack on Douma came as UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien made his first trip to Syria since taking the top aid post in May.

A video posted online by activists of the aftermath of the attacks showed an intersection strewn with rubble and twisted metal.

Several buildings appeared to have their fronts almost sheared off by the force of the blasts, and many vehicles were overturned and crumpled amid the rubble.

Douma lies in the rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta, a region outside the capital that is a regular target of government air strikes.

Earlier this week, Amnesty International accused the government of war crimes in Eastern Ghouta, saying heavy aerial bombardment was compounding misery created by a regime blockade on the area.

Rebels also regularly fire on the capital from the region, attacks that Amnesty also described as war crimes because of their indiscriminate nature.