Seven killed by Syrian barrel bomb

Seven people, including four children, have been killed in a barrel bomb attack by Syrian regime forces near Homs. The attack took place as opposition sources were reported to have seized the strategic town of Handarat, west of Aleppo, after a battle for control of the area that began last month..

Activists posted video footage purporting to show victims’ bodies following heavy shelling. Regime forces are also reported to have shelled villages surrounding Homs, killing one woman and injuring several others.

In the nearby village of As-Saan, one child was killed and others were injured when regime helicopters dropped explosive barrels on houses. Meanwhile two civilians were killed and another was wounded when the Syrian Air Force attacked a local oil refinery in Al-Munbateh near the border with Turkey.

The regime forces are reported to have targeted the villages of Masada, Wadi El-Etham, Massoud, Salba and Jana El-Elbawi to the east of Hama.