Death toll increases to 250 in Syria air strikes

The death toll for the shelling and airstrikes in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta has increased to 250 in the last 48-hours, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The death toll included 58 children and 42 women, the group said. More than 1,200 people were wounded by the Syrian regime shelling and airstrikes on the besieged Damascus suburb, which rights activists and residents described as being under “constant bombardment.”

The monitoring group said the death toll is the highest since the 2013 alleged chemical attack on eastern Ghouta, which activists say killed approximately 1,400 people.

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The UN has warned that the situation is "spiralling out of control".

Meanwhile, the Damascus government has sent forces to confront Turkish troops who have crossed the border to push back the Kurds in northern Syria.

Turkey warned on Wednesday that pro-Syrian government forces entering the northwest Afrin region to support a Kurdish militia there will face "serious consequences" and they will be regarded as legitimate targets.

A convoy of some 40-50 vehicles carrying pro-government forces tried to enter Syria's Afrin on Tuesday, but retreated after artillery fire by Turkish forces, President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said.

On the outskirts of Damascus, air strikes, rockets and artillery fire have been battering the Eastern Ghouta enclave in apparent preparation for a government ground assault.

Bombardment on Tuesday killed 106 civilians, including 19 children, the Britain-based war monitor said.

It was the second straight day that the civilian death toll topped 100, after 127 were killed Monday in Eastern Ghouta’s bloodiest day in four years.

The strikes left an important hospital out of action, further limiting the little medical aid that besieged civilians can access.

The Observatory blamed Russian warplanes, saying Moscow carried out its first strikes in three months on Eastern Ghouta.