Syrian bombing kills children near school

Damascus. Seven people have died, five of them children, after a car bomb exploded near a primary school in the Syrian province of Homs, activists and state media have reported, as the death toll from bombing continues to rise.The country’s official news agency SANA said on Sunday that the incident took place in the town of Omm al-Amd, which is home to a Shia Muslim community. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists and medics, confirmed the explosion and the death toll.Sunday’s attack comes after more than a week of heavy shelling in Aleppo.Syrian warplanes have been bombing the northern city, with opposition activists alleging that government forces dropped barrel bombs - barrels filled with explosives dropped from helicopters - on the city and several nearby villages.Attacks last Thursday killed at least 11 people in two villages, among them four women and two children, according to the Observatory.“I think it is trying to make the population turn against the rebels, so that the people themselves expel the fighters,” Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Observatory, said.One Syrian security source denied that barrel bombs were used, but another said the Syrian military prefers such weapons over missiles because they are cheaper, according to the AFP news agency.In a statement on Wednesday evening, Doctors Without Borders said that government air strikes had killed at least 189 people and injured 879 others in Aleppo since December 15. The bitter cold has added to the misery of Syrians, with international aid agencies expressing concern about the impact of the 33-month conflict.