Assad troops fired mortar rounds that slammed into a main market in a town in northern Syria on Sunday, killing at least 20 civilians, activist groups said.
According to AP, the mortar shells struck the town of Ariha, which is held mostly by opposition fighters, a few hours ahead of iftar, the meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Sources to Zaman al-Wasl said that Ariha had been besieged by at least 12 checkpoints of Assad's forces, besides some military bases around the area, which made the emergency and relief work very challenging and terribly contributed to increasing the number of casualties.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees, two opposition groups tracking the violence in Syria, said at least 20 people were killed, including two children and two women. It was not immediately clear what triggered the shelling.
Also Sunday, state media said government forces killed nearly 50 rebels in an ambush near Damascus.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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