BEIRUT: Two medics were among at least 20 people killed on Saturday in Syrian government shelling of a rebel-held town northeast of the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The bombardment struck the town of Jayrud, 60 kilometres (35 miles) from Damascus, where the army says rebels killed a pilot they captured after he was forced to eject on Friday.
In its Friday statement about the incident, the military said the attack “will not go unpunished.”
Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said it was the first bombardment of the town in at least two years.
“Prominent figures in Jayrud have had a local truce with the regime for at least two years, and neither fired on each other,” Abdel Rahman told AFP.
He could not specify how many of the 20 killed were civilians but said at least two were medical staff.
