VIDEO: Syrian rebels lock people in cages 'to act as human shields'

It is being reported that Syrian rebels had locked people in cages to use them as human shields against government air raids.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said they were being driven on the back of pickup trucks driven to areas near Damascus.

A video posted online by Syria’s Shaam News Network showed men and women in iron cages.

A report said that the male and female prisoners were being driven through the streets of Douma , just outside of the Syrian capital, by militants of the Army of Islam.

Médecins Sans Frontières say that at least 70 people had died and 550 had been injured in an airstrike in Douma last Friday.

Human Rights Watch condemned the use of cages, and local reports say there were at least 100 cages with hostages around the city.

The area has suffered numerous Russian and Syrian airstrikes.

Nadim Houry, the Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, said: "There have been repeated airstrikes on Ghouta. But two wrongs don’t make a right. You can’t protect civilians by endangering other civilians."

He said President Assad's forces were reported to have also used human shields in the village of Fua in October.