ALEPPO, Syria
At least 40 people, including women and children, were killed in Syrian army airstrikes in north and northwestern Syria, the Syrian Civil Defense and medical sources said Saturday.
At least 25 people were killed and 150 wounded when a government helicopter dropped three "barrel bombs" on a marketplace in the northern province of Aleppo, Syrian Civil Defense sources said Saturday.
Rescue operations were underway following the attack on the opposition-held neighborhood of Firdaws as "a lot of people were trapped under the rubble" and the death toll could rise further, the sources told Anadolu Agency.
"We are not letting civilians into the area in case of a further attack," they added.
Meanwhile, 15 people were killed and 20 others were wounded when a Syrian fighter jet dropped a "vacuum bomb" in a residential area in the opposition-held city of Idlib in the northwest, field hospital sources said.
"A lot of people were killed and injured in the army airstrike (on Belyun), and the wounded have been taken to the field hospital," local activists said, adding that the strikes destroyed a number of vehicles as well.
The attacks follow an earlier barrel bomb attack in Aleppo which killed at least 85 people, a Syrian opposition coalition said.
According to the Syrian Revolution General Commission, at least 70 people were killed and 90 others were injured Saturday when regime helicopters dropped two barrel bombs on the city of al-Bab.
Also, regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the al-Shear neighborhood in Aleppo leaving 15 people dead and 20 others injured, the network added.
The Istanbul-based Syrian Revolution General Commission is a coalition of Syrian political and media groups opposed to the Bashar al-Assad regime.
The figures provided by the commission, however, could not be independently verified.
Clashes in southern Aleppo
Meanwhile, the opposition group of al-Jabha al-Shamiya said that 28 Syrian army troops were killed, and another three were taken hostage following an attack on Assad forces in southern Aleppo.
Field commander Abu Hussein told Anadolu Agency that the group attacked the villages of Rashidiya and Sheikh Mahmoud held by Assad forces, and seized a tank and a large number of military equipment.
"Opponents were forced to leave some military positions due to intense air raids by the (Syrian) army," he added.
