Rocket fire kills 4 in Syrian capital: ministry

Four people were killed and 58 others were wounded in residential neighbourhoods of Damascus

DAMASCUS: Four people were killed and 58 others wounded in a barrage of rebel rocket fire on the Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.

The ministry, quoted by state television, said "four people were killed and 58 others were wounded, in addition to material damage", in residential neighbourhoods of Damascus.

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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said earlier that more than 50 missiles were fired at several central neighbourhoods, killing at least one person.

The group, which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said at least 20 people were injured, with some left in serious condition.

Rebels often fire into the Syrian capital from rear bases on the outskirts of Damascus, including at times barrages of hundreds of missiles.

Rights groups have condemned indiscriminate rebel rocket fire into the capital as amounting to war crimes.

The government regularly carries out air strikes against rebel-held areas on the outskirts of Damascus, particularly the Eastern Ghouta region, which is also under regime siege.

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More than 240,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict since it broke out in March 2011, and millions have been forced to flee their homes.