New strikes kill 10 in rebel-held suburbs of Syrian capital

New airstrikes and shelling on the besieged, rebel-held suburbs of the Syrian capital kill at least 10 people, a rescue organization and a monitoring group say.

Syrian government forces and Russian aircraft are showing no signs of letting up their indiscriminate aerial and artillery assault on eastern Ghouta since they stepped up strikes late Sunday.

In this photo released on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 provided by the Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, members of the Syrian Civil Defense extinguish a fire in a store during airstrikes and shelling by Syrian government forces, in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

At least 260 people have been killed since Sunday night, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, including 10 people in a wave of strikes on the town of Kafr Batna on Wednesday.

The Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets, says government forces targeted the town with airstrikes, artillery fire, and barrel bombs — crude, explosives-filled oil drums dropped from helicopters at high altitudes. It reports that several other people are wounded.

— AP