Airstrikes on suburbs of Syrian capital kill 17
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Government airstrikes and shelling of suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus have killed 17 people as government forces press to retake areas they recently lost.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 17 people were killed Saturday, 12 of them in the suburb of Hamouriyeh.
The volunteer first-responders Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, reported 12 people killed in Hamouriyeh saying they included four children. They said five others were killed in other areas.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The Observatory reported more than 40 airstrikes on the suburbs known as eastern Ghouta.
Syrian government forces have been trying to reach a force trapped inside the suburb of Harasta for a week without success.
The U.N. says government forces are holding 400,000 people under siege in eastern Ghouta.