Air raids near Syrian capital kill more than 50

BEIRUT  — Syrian government warplanes attacked a busy market in a rebel-held suburb of the capital Damascus on Sunday, killing at least 67 people and wounding more than 200 in one of the deadliest single incidents involving government airstrikes since the crisis began nearly five years ago, activist said.

Syrian government air raids on rebel-held areas throughout the country have killed thousands over the past few years.

The air raids on the market in Douma occurred during rush hour when people were out shopping on the first working day of the week in Syria, the activists said.

Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said four missiles were fired at the market, killing 70 and wounding more than 200 hundred. He said the death toll is expected to rise because many of the wounded are in critical condition.

The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said the air raids killed 67 and wounded 200, adding that rescue workers are digging through the rubble in search of survivors.

“The situation is catastrophic,” a Douma-based activist who goes by the name of Mazen al-Shami told The Associated Press via Skype. He said clinics in the area are full and many of the wounded are being rushed in civilian cars to other medical facilities since ambulances are overwhelmed.

Al-Shami said mosque loudspeakers are issuing calls for residents to donate all types of blood. He added that hundreds of people were in the busy market when the first missile struck the area, inflicting heavy casualties.

Syria’s civil war, now in its 5th year, has killed more than 250,000 people and wounded at least a million.