Syria activists say 4 children killed in government shelling
None
At least four Syrian children were killed in government shelling as they left their school in a rebel-held town, part of an intensifying campaign against the last opposition holdouts outside the capital Damascus, activists reported Tuesday.
The violence comes as Russian-sponsored talks are underway in the Kazakh capital Astana to consolidate so-called "de-escalation zones" designed to freeze the lines of conflict and allow humanitarian aid to rebel-held areas besieged by government forces. Syria is in its seventh year of a civil war that has left more than 400,000 dead.
The Ghouta Media Center and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a shell landed at the gate of a school in Jisreen, a town in the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus as children were leaving for the day. The shelling left at least five dead, including the four children, one of whom had his legs blown off.
The shelling has hit a number of towns and villages in the suburbs northeast of the capital, leaving another three killed in the town of Musraba. Another shell in Harasta, also in eastern Ghouta suburbs, landed near a school but only caused injuries.
