Renewed mortar shelling kills 6 children in Syria's capital

At least six children were killed and many others wounded on Thursday by a renewed mortar attack against several areas of the capital Damascus, according to the official SANA news agency. Citing a police source, SANA said that four mortar shells landed at the Dukhanieh neighborhood, in southeast Damascus, killing six children and injuring five others. It added that another three persons were wounded by the shrapnel of a mortar shell landed at the Dahiet Harasta roundabout in the countryside of Damascus. Meanwhile, seven more people were wounded when mortar shells struck the Jamarek roundabout and the al-Jahez public park in central Damascus. A day earlier, at least 12 people were killed and more than 40 others injured by mortar shelling. A source in the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) said the organization has been on alert due to the intensification of rebel mortar attacks. The source said more than 50 people were hospitalized with the assistance of SARC volunteers in Damascus on Wednesday. The intensification of mortar shelling against government- controlled areas, which occurs almost daily in Syria, has coincided with intense battles currently underway between government troops and armed militant groups in Damascus' eastern suburb of Jobar, a hotbed for insurgency against the administration of President Bashar al-Assad. Syria has witnessed the killing of over 150,000 people and the displacement of millions since opposition first started protests in 2011, which spiraled into a bloody military conflict between the Syrian army and armed rebels, some with foreign backing, including al-Qaida-inspired groups.