Barrel bombs kill at least 10 in Syria

Activists say government helicopter gunships have dropped bombs on the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing at least 10 people and wounding many others.

An Aleppo-based activist who goes by the name Abu Raed said a barrel bomb struck a shop that sells gasoline and diesel. He said a fire broke out and many bystanders were burned.

Abu Raed said the strike on the Qadi Askar neighbourhood Thursday morning killed at least 10, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 18 people died.

The aerial attack comes a day after the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, and other radical Islamic factions launched an assault on a government intelligence building in Aleppo, blowing up part of it before trying to storm the facility.