It was unclear if the strikes were carried out by Syrian or Russian warplanes, but the rockets landed on the towns of Douma, Harasta, Saqba and Arbin in the country’s eastern region. Dozens were injured, including some who suffered severe wounds.
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The monitoring group reported at least one child was killed in another artillery bombardment closer to the government held Damascus city center.
They fully secured the airport on Monday afternoon but “are still working to secure the town”, where some rebels remain, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. A poisonous gas attack that killed about 1,400 people took place there in 2013.
Ahmad, an officer from the Douma branch of the Syrian Civil Defence department, told Al Jazeera that government air strikes and rocket barrages targeted Ghouta district in the Damascus suburbs.
The Observatory said a total of 31 civilians died in insurgent strongholds east of Damascus on Sunday.
He says he was “deeply saddened” by mortar shells that hit Damascus the previous day and deadly government airstrikes on opposition-held suburbs of the capital. Issam al-Rayyes added that the ground and air assault started in the early hours of this morning.
Syria’s state media made no mention of the reported attacks in Eastern Ghouta, but the official news agency SANA said that six civilians were killed and 43 injured as a result of rebel attacks inside and around Damascus.
An inconsistent death toll is a common problem amid the chaos of war-ravaged Syria, where somewhere between 200,000-400,000 people have been killed in a conflict that has last close to five years, and continues to escalate on an nearly daily basis.
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Assad said on Friday he would not negotiate with armed groups, appearing to scupper peace talks that Russian Federation and the United States hope to bring about next month.
