Bombing near Damascus kills 11

At least 11 children were killed in a relatively quiet suburb of Damascus on Wednesday after mortar shells struck their school, according to the Syrian Revolution General Commission, a group of activists located across the war-torn nation. A grisly video of the incident showing several heavily wounded and lifeless victims appeared genuine, the news agency AP reported. The video implies that the death toll may rise, as there are many children with serious injuries.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has confirmed the attack.

The town of Qaboun outside of Damascus has enjoyed a truce between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad for the past five months, though this has been interrupted in a few relatively minor incidents. The rebel-held town houses thousands of internally displaced Syrians who have fled from other opposition-controlled areas.

Local activists decried the attack as a "massacre of children" and accused the Syrian military of carrying it out.

The conflict in Syria, now in its fourth year, has killed nearly 190,000 people, more than 10,000 of whom have been children, though exact numbers are difficult to confirm.

es/mkg (AP, AFP)