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Mohammed Rayhan was assumed to be among more than 100 people killed when Syrian government forces bombed a market place in Douma, just north-east of Damascus, over the weekend in the single deadliest attack on the countryside town.

It was the first time in two years that the council agreed on a political statement on Syria, which French Deputy Ambassador Alexis Lamek described as “historic”.

“Douma is one of the largest suburbs of Damascus and has been held by rebels since the early days of Syria’s conflict, which began in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protests but escalated into a full-scale civil war after a massive government crackdown”, notes AP.

On Monday, the UN’s humanitarian chief fiercely condemned attacks against civilians in Syria at a press conference in Damascus.

Douma is situated within the Syrian insurgent stronghold of Japanese Ghouta and is a daily goal of presidency air strikes.

The UN statement was approved one day after Assad regime warplanes struck a rebel-held town near Damascus, killing at least 96 people.

Monitoring group Human Rights Watch urged the UN to impose an arms embargo on the Syrian government Thursday to “stop indiscriminate attacks” against civilians, AFP reported.

O’Brien said unnamed armed groups, of which there are many in Syria, cut water supplies to Damascus’ population of five million, and to two million in Aleppo.

The Douma Civil Defense team of volunteer search and rescue workers has now documented 95 of the dead by name, a further five that couldn’t be identified and 11 bodies still stuck in the rubble, the group’s local media liaison officer Majid Khalaf told VICE News on Monday.

Syrian opposition leaders and their foreign backers have insisted that President Bashar al-Assad should not have any role in a future government, something that the Assad government had rejected.

The Observatory said the assault had hit a commercial center in Douma, by most accounts 15 km (10 miles) upper east of Damascus.

“Attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop”, O’Brien said, speaking at the end of a three-day visit to Syria, during which he met senior officials and visited the central province of Homs. But Syria’s political opposition said the...

The airstrikes hit a vegetable market in the suburb, which is a stronghold of the Islam Army rebel group.