Syrian regime strikes kill dozens across Syria

Dozens of overnight Syrian regime strikes on Eastern Ghouta and Aleppo left more than a hundred people dead, a monitor group and activists said Friday.

The attacks left 82 people dead in E.Ghouta, an opposition-held area near Damascus, and 47 civilians in Aleppo as they sat on a bus and collected water.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the new toll in the Thursday air strikes on the E.Ghouta region included at least 18 children.

The regime assault, which also killed 16 rebel fighters, involved more than 60 air strikes, as well as surface-to-surface missiles, the Observatory said.

It was the deadliest single-aerial attack by government forces since November 25, when 95 people were killed in air strikes on Raqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State group.

In the northern city of Aleppo, army helicopters dropped two barrel bombs on a crowded square, killing 47 people.

An Aleppo-based activist, Ahmad al-Ahmad, said one barrel bomb exploded beside a crowded bus, the second near a line of people waiting to fill their canteens from a public water tanker.

Thursday night's attack by government forces on the rebel-held city and E.Ghouta came hours after rebels bombarded the capital, Damascus, killing nine people.

Residents said the capital was quiet on Friday and that the mortar and rocket fire appeared to be over.

But regime air strikes were continuing, the Observatory said.

The key rebel bastion on the outskirts of Damascus has been under siege for nearly two years, leading to food and medical shortages.

Since mid-2012, the government has carried out frequent air raids there and on other on rebel-held areas.

Rights groups accuse it of indiscriminately killing both civilians and militants.

More than 200,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, which began with anti-government protests in March 2011 and escalated into a multisided war.