'Three dead' after Syria bombing

At least three people are said to have been killed after Syrian government forces bombed a strategic rebel town for the third consecutive day.

President Bashar Assad’s troops have been on the offensive against rebels on several fronts, including in the northern Idlib province along the border with Turkey.

In Idlib, government forces have besieged the town of Saraqeb, hitting it with rockets, tanks and air raids, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

On Saturday, the group said military aircraft dropped at least 15 makeshift bombs, known as barrel bombs, on the town. The bombs are made of explosives stuffed into barrels.

Meanwhile, an airstrike by a fighter jet killed at least three people, including two children, said the Observatory, which relies on reports from a network of activists on the ground.

The number of casualties was likely to rise because many of the people have been buried in the rubble of buildings that collapsed in the shelling, it added.

More than 93,000 people have been killed since the Syrian conflict started in March 2011 as largely peaceful protests against Assad’s rule. It escalated into a civil war after opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent.