Fighting raged in Syria's second city Aleppo on Thursday afternoon, a watchdog said, as regime forces shelled a village in Damascus province, killing five children. A security source told AFP troops were preparing to launch an all-out offensive on rebel-held districts of Aleppo.
Intermittent clashes were reported in the Damascus district of Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, with the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog saying at least seven people were killed there on Thursday. Regime forces pounded the southern Salaheddin and eastern Jazamati districts of Aleppo, the country's commercial hub, the Observatory said.
Across Syria, at least 114 people were killed on Thursday, including 61 civilians, 32 regime troops and 21 rebels, according to the group. Regime forces shelled the village of Yalda, just south of the capital Damascus, killing 16 civilians, among them five children and four women, the Observatory said.
"The villagers are terrified," the Syrian Revolution General Commission said in a statement, adding that "there are difficulties helping the wounded. Some houses collapsed with people still inside them." The violence came as rebels and troops prepared for a major battle in Aleppo.