Barrel bombs kill 70 as Syrian regime hits busy market in Aleppo
Syrian regime hits busy market in Aleppo in one of deadliest attacks this year
Barrel bombs dropped from regime helicopters killed more than 70 civilians in Syria's Aleppo, while government forces in neighbouring Iraq retook an area west of the jihadist-controlled city of Ramadi.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "at least 71 civilians were killed, and dozens wounded when regime helicopters dropped barrel bombs" on the provincial town of Al-Bab and the Al-Shaar district of the city of Aleppo.
In the worst carnage, 59 civilians, all male, died on Saturday at a market in jihadist-controlled Al-Bab, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
"People often gather on Saturday mornings at the Al-Hail market in Al-Bab, which is why the number of dead was so high," Abdel Rahman said.
Those killed were all male because women had much less freedom of movement in areas controlled by the Islamic State (IS) group, he added.
The head of the Britain-based monitoring group said 12 people were also killed in rebel-held Al-Shaar, including eight members of a single family.