Regime, rebel fire kills 20 in or near Damascus

Government and rebel bombardment killed at least 20 civilians and wounded dozens in the Syrian capital and a nearby opposition bastion on Wednesday, state media and a monitoring group said. Mortar rounds fired from the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region onto residential areas of Damascus left eight civilians dead and 23 wounded, the official SANA news agency reported. The attack came after the regime fired rockets onto the Eastern Ghouta town of Douma earlier in the day, killing five civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor.
Eastern Ghouta, which is largely controlled by the Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) rebel group, is regularly bombarded by government forces. Seven other civilians, including a child, were later killed in government air strikes on the nearby towns of Hazzeh and Zamalka, the Observatory said.