Syrian shelling kills four children

Four children were killed on their way to school on Monday after government forces shelled a town in the Idlib region, Syria's last main rebel bastion, a war monitor said. The shelling targeted Maarat al Naasan, a town in the northern countryside of Idlib province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. An AFP correspondent took photographs that show a small lorry carrying three bodies wrapped in black plastic bags to the local cemetery.

One of the victims was buried elsewhere after he later died from his injuries. Maarat al Naasan lies on a frontline between the regime and the rebels. It also houses a Turkish observation point on its outskirts. The Observatory, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria, said it was unclear why the regime targeted the area. On February 12, regime shelling killed six people in the same town, including two women and two children. - AFP