Syrian planes flatten building near hospital, kill 13

BEIRUT – Syrian activists say warplanes have flattened a building next to a hospital in the northern city of Aleppo, killing at least 13 people.

Rami Abdul-Rahman from the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a doctor and two children were among those killed in the bombing Wednesday night that struck near the city's Dar al-Shifa hospital.

The hospital was once a private clinic and now operates as a rebel field hospital that also treats civilians.

Abdul-Rahman says at least 10 fighters were killed, a doctor who worked at the hospital and two children who were on the street.

Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, confirmed the bombing and said 40 people died in airstrikes in Aleppo Wednesday. It did not say how many died in the hospital strike.