Beirut: A series of air strikes in a rebel-held central Syrian town Wednesday killed at least 12 people, including 10 children and two women who were taking cover in an underground shelter, activists said.
Homs-based activist Bebars Al Talawy said at least eight air raids struck the town of Rastan, one of them hitting a house, destroying it while its residents were taking cover in the shelter.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the raid killed a whole family, including a man, his wife, two sons and four daughters, in addition to his two sisters and their four children. The Observatory said the number may rise because rescue work was still underway pulling people from the rubble.
The Local Coordination Committees said Wednesday’s air raid killed 12 people, also confirming that the family was hiding in the shelter.
An amateur video posted by activists online showed several bodies, including those of three children, placed on the floor and covered with a sheet.
The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other Associated Press reporting of the events
The air strikes came a day after a similar attack on Rastan, which was one of the first areas to rise up against President Bashar Al Assad’s government in 2011.
