Barrel bombs dropped from Syrian government helicopters on Thursday killed at least 11 civilians, including three children, in raids on a jihadist-held northern town, a monitoring group said. The crudely constructed weapons were used on Al-Bab, which lies in Aleppo province and is held by the extremist Islamic State group, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Since Saturday, at least 68 civilians have been killed in aerial attacks on the town. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the "intensified air attacks by regime forces on Al-Bab are aimed at foiling IS efforts on multiple fronts," including the nearby Kweyris military airport, which IS has besieged for more than a year.