Bombardment of rebel bastion near Damascus kills 31

Dozens were injured, including some who suffered severe wounds.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the pro-government forces, which support President Bashar al-Assad, also included Hezbollah.

On Sunday, at least 45 people were killed as government forces bombarded the nearby rebel-held suburbs of Douma, Saqba, Arbeen and Harasta, according to the Syrian Observatory and the opposition Local Co-ordination Committees.

United NationsThe United Nations aid chief on Monday condemned attacks on civilians in and near the Syrian capital as “unacceptable”, a day after more than 50 were killed.

Air raids and rocket attacks on a Damascus suburb by Syrian government and Russian forces kill dozens of civilians.

“The Syrian army has taken full control of the town of Marj al-Sultan and its airport in Eastern Ghouta”, a military source told AFP.

The head of Russia’s military general staff says rebels of the Free Syrian Army are receiving weapons comments that come just days after a Kremlin spokesman denied that Russian Federation was doing that.

The Observatory, which has gathered information from a network of contacts on the ground since the start of the conflict in 2011, said at least 40 mortar bombs fired by insurgents in the eastern suburbs hit Damascus on Sunday, killing at least one child and wounding several.

Russia, an ally of Assad, started to launch an air campaign in Syria in September.

SANA said a child was killed and three people wounded, and said the shells caused material damage to cars and buildings.

The agency added that the mortar and rocket attacks were carried out by “terrorists”, an official term referring to the rebels.

An inconsistent death toll is a common problem amid the chaos of war-ravaged Syria, where somewhere between 200,000-400,000 people have been killed in a conflict that has last close to five years, and continues to escalate on an nearly daily basis. The talks are planned for next month.