Syrian government strikes on two rebel areas kill 23

Syrian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus and parts of Aleppo in the north yesterday, killing 23 people, with the death toll likely to rise, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Mediators have struggled to get combatants in Syria’s five-year-old war to honour a Feb. 27 cessation of hostilities deal to enable peace talks in Geneva to proceed. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce.