Syria: Aleppo air strikes kill 12 civilian including 5 children, says monitor

Air strikes killed at least 12 civilians in Syria's Aleppo on Monday, a monitor said, bringing to 45 the number killed in 24 hours of bombardment on the battleground city.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five children were among the dead in the rebel-held district of Marjeh in east Aleppo. Dozens more people were wounded or still trapped underrubble. Of the 45 civilians killed, the highest number of deadwere in Qaterji, where Russian raids claimed 17 livesovernight, said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

According to reports, White Helmets rescuers were still working till Monday morning to pull about 20 people out of the rubble in Qaterji. One civil defence volunteer said they had been unable tocomplete rescue missions overnight in fear of further airstrikes by warplanes circling above. Both Russian and Syrian warplanes are carrying out airstrikes over Aleppo in support of a major offensive by regimeforces to capture rebel-held parts of the northern city.

The Observatory - which relies on a network of sourcesinside Syria for its information -- says it determines whatplanes carried out raids according to their type, location,flight patterns and the munitions involved.