Rebel bastion bombardment kills 31 civilians in Syria

The Syrian army has recaptured a key town and airbase in the Damascus countryside, leaving rebel groups in the Eastern Ghouta region vulnerable to further attacks by government forces.

Dozens of civilians in a Damascus suburb were killed in air raids and rocket attacks by Syrian government and Russian forces on December 13, sources told Al Jazeera.

At least 28 people were killed in air strikes on the besieged rebel-held eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, a monitoring group says.

Rebel groups seized the airport, about 15 kilometres east of Damascus, in November 2012.

Almost five years of conflict have left much of Syria infrastructure destroyed or severely damaged, and hundreds of thousands of people are now in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.

An officer from the Douma brand of the Syrian Civil Defence department said the airstrikes were carried out by government forces, Al Jazeera reported.

The Damascus suburb, known as Eastern Ghouta, is held by rebels who often launch mortar shells into Damascus, which is Syrian President Bashar Assad’s seat of power.

Before departing, Kerry attended a French-hosted foreign ministers’ meeting in Paris to compare notes on a conference of Syrian opposition figures held last week in Saudi Arabia.

Two children and a school principal were among those who were killed.

“This situation is unacceptable. A blot on our collective conscience”, O’Brien said.

But a military source told the AFP news agency that the town had also fallen. The statement appeared to suggest Russian Federation was supplying the weapons, but the military could not be reached for clarification.

“I have nothing to add to what the chief of the General Staff said”, Peskov said, when asked about weapons supplies.

Russian Federation and the US are at odds over the mechanics of a political transition aimed at halting the war in Syria as well as the military approach to fighting the Islamic State group.