Syrian regime airstrikes kill 58, wound 200 near Damascus: monitor

(Updates casualty toll) BEIRUT, August 16 (Reuters) – A Syrian government air strike northeast of Damascus killed about 80 people on Saturday, rescue workers and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Activists say at least 70 people have died after government air strikes on a marketplace in the rebel-held town of Douma, near Damascus.

The civil defence in Douma put the death toll at 70.

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

“The preliminary information suggests most of the dead are civilians”, Observatory Direct Rami Abdel-Rahman said.

Correspondents say Douma has been a constant target of government air strikes aimed at stopping rebels firing rockets from there into the capital, including the Islamist rebel group Jaysh al-Islam.

Al-Shami said mosque loudspeakers are issuing calls for residents to donate all types of blood.

Syria’s civil war, now in its 5th year, has killed more than 250,000 people and wounded at least a million.