Assad regime bombing of Syrian town kills at least 12, including 5 children

Rebel group puts death toll at 30; independent footage shows mutilated bodies

1 October 2012, 1:00 pm

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Rada Hallabi, 4, who is sick with diabetes, lies on a blanket in a refugee camp on Syria's border with Turkey, near the Azaz village, on Sunday. (photo credit: Manu Brabo/AP)

BEIRUT (AP) — Activists say Syrian troops have bombed a northern town near the Turkish border, killing at least 12 people.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the victims of Monday’s bombardment of the town of Salqin included five children. The town is 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the border with Turkey.

The Observatory says the death toll is expected to rise because many people were critically wounded. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, put the death toll at 30.

Footage posted online by activists shows several mutilated bodies in a pickup truck as a man shouts that his son was killed. The video’s authenticity could not be independently verified.

Salqin is in the northwestern province of Idlib that has seen intense clashes between troops and rebels in recent months.