(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Syrian rebels using improvised mortar bombs made of cooking gas canisters killed 311 civilians between July and December this year, a monitoring group said yesterday, condemning the use of the wildly inaccurate weapons.
Two-thirds of the deaths, or 203 people, were in the northern city of Aleppo where the so-called "hell cannons" have been fired on government-held districts of Syria's second city.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the violence using sources on both sides, said that 42 children and 25 women were among the dead in Aleppo. It said more than 700 people had also been wounded during that time.
Syria's official news agency SANA said on Thursday that "terrorists" fired 11 of the improvised bombs in the southern city of Deraa, wounding several civilians.
The canisters are packed with explosives, fitted with a guide fin and fired by large cannons.
In the province of Deir Al Zor, an Islamic State suicide bomber detonated a tank at a Syrian air base, one of the last remaining government strongholds in eastern Syria, jihadist social media and a monitoring group said yesterday.
One Islamic State Twitter account published two photos of a smiling man it named Abu Al Farouq Al Libi, who it said carried out the "suicide operation".
The Al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State has been gradually consolidating control of the oil-producing Deir Al Zor region this year. President Bashar Al Assad's forces have held on to the local military air base and parts of the provincial capital.
On December 6, militants entered the base but were swiftly repelled. Deir Al Zor borders territories in Iraq are also controlled by Islamic State. The province's oilfields are a source of revenue for the group.
Syria's state news agency SANA said the army had pursued Islamic State fighters in the area around Deir Al Zor base and killed many.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the tank blew up on the outskirts of the base. It gave no details of casualties or other damage. After the blast, clashes took place last morning, it added.
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