Death toll rises amid relentless Syrian air raids: 10 killed

BEIRUT – New airstrikes launched by Russian and Syrian government forces on a besieged rebel-held region east of Damascus killed at least 10 people on Wednesday, opposition activists said, part of an ongoing aerial campaign that has killed dozens of civilians in the past few days.

Around 60 civilians were killed Tuesday in airstrikes and shelling that overwhelmed rescue workers and prompted calls for an immediate cease-fire that would allow the delivery of critical medical care.

The opposition's civil defense workers, known as the White Helmets, said 10 civilians were killed on Wednesday and many were wounded after warplanes targeted the town of Hamouriyeh, causing a building to collapse over its residents' heads. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported an overall death toll of 23 civilians for Wednesday, which it said raised the number of people killed in the area since Jan. 29 to 384, including 94 children.